Since the approval of the Organic Regulatory Law of Euthanasia (LOREG) in the Spanish State, in Navarra a total of fifteen euthanasia have been carried out in the last two years, two in 2021 and thirteen in last year, after receiving favorable reports from the Committee on Guarantees and Evaluation.

Those affected by euthanasia suffered from neurological (40%) and oncological diseases. There were eight men and two women, with a mean age of 64 years. Similarly, during these two years, five people have been refused euthanasia and two other patients have withdrawn from their petition.

Most euthanasia have been channeled by family medicine professionals and carried out at home, following the request of the applicants. According to the surveys published by the Observatory of Dignified Death, the majority of the population of Navarra want to die in their homes. The average duration of the process is 44 days from the patient's request to completion.

Procedure and case monitoring

Once the request has been made, the Committee on Analysis and Guarantees analyses each case and decides whether euthanasia is granted or not. He has denied five cases since the law came into force two years ago. According to the chairman of this committee, María Luisa Arcos, we must be very careful with mental illnesses, since “euthanasia admits these cases, but it must be very clear that this disease is not the cause of the demand for euthanasia”. In the five cases rejected by the Commission, for example, the doctor only accepted euthanasia in one of them.

The application of LORE in Navarre has been valued at his hearing by the Director General of Health, Carlos Artundo, the Chairperson of the Commission on Guarantees and Evaluation of Slaughter Aid in the Foral Community of Navarra, María Luisa Arcos, and the Director of the Citizenship, Insurance and Health Guarantees Service, Gen Ochando.