Olivier Véran judges the course in Spain “very long”

The deadlines for carrying out the end-of-life journey in Spain, more than a month on average, are “very long”, estimated Friday March 3 the spokesperson for the French government, Olivier Véran, during a visit of information in Madrid in the context of a possible change in French law on the end of life.

Olivier Véran, who stressed that there was “nothing arbitrated” to date on this subject, was accompanied by the Minister Delegate for Health Professions Agnès Firmin le Bodo, as well as parliamentarians and health professionals. .

The purpose of the visit was to learn about Spanish legislation in this area, as the Citizens’ Convention on End of Life is due to complete its work on March 19. He had already been to Belgium and Switzerland.

About the “Spanish model”, he said that “a month, a month and something for the end of life journey to be successful is long, very long, when you face situations of suffering”.

Euthanasia and assisted suicide

In Spain, which legalized euthanasia and assisted suicide in March 2021, the time between the patient’s request and the performance of the act is on average 50 days, according to the Spanish association Right to Die with Dignity ( DMD).

Spain is one of the few countries in the world to allow a patient with an incurable disease to die to end their suffering, under a strict protocol of evaluation by several doctors and by a commission interdisciplinary.

But given the deadlines, cancer patients who can benefit from Spanish law are “a minority, because – this is what they told us today – in many situations they died before” their end-of-life request could have been fulfilled, underlined Olivier Véran.

“Likely” a law on the end of life

The minister had indicated in February that there would “probably” be a law on the end of life, without specifying its content, and had indicated that Emmanuel Macron would outline “by the end of March” the follow-up to be given to the work. of the Convention.

The approximately 180 participants in this convention, drawn by lot, voted overwhelmingly in favor of changing the law for “active assistance in dying” during a vote on February 19: 72% voted in favor assisted suicide and 66% in favor of euthanasia. These citizens are required to vote again and present their work to the executive on March 19.

In Madrid, Olivier Véran and his delegation successively met with the Spanish Bioethics Committee, the Spanish Society for Palliative Care and the DMD association, as well as representatives of the Order of Physicians.

In France, since 2016, the so-called Claeys-Leonetti law has made it possible to go as far as “deep and continuous sedation” of certain patients until their death, without however making it possible to actively cause their death or to give them the means.

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