Collected here are English-language summaries of the most relevant biolaw decisions from the Italian Constitutional Court.
Lost & found in translation
Autore
Derek Van Becelaere
Italian Constitutional Court - decision n. 282/2002: therapies of proven efficacy and informed consent
19 giugno 2002
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The Constitutional Court declared the unconstitutionality of Marche region law n. 26/2001, challenged by the State for violation of Article 117, paragraph 3 of the Italian Constitution. The law suspends, within the region, the application of electroconvulsive therapy, the practice of prefrontal and transorbital lobotomy and other similar psychosurgical interventions, until the Ministry of Health clearly defines the clinical situations for which these therapies, applied according to specific protocols, are experimentally proven to be effective and not cause temporary or permanent damage to patient health.
Italian Constitutional Court - decision n. 27/1975: voluntary termination of pregnancy
18 febbraio 1975
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Before the promulgation of law n. 194/78 concerning voluntary termination of pregnancy, the Constitutional Court “declare[d] unconstitutional the part of Art. 546 of the Penal Code that does not provide for the termination of pregnancy when prolonged gestation might cause harm, medically ascertainable and inevitable, to the health of the woman”.
Italian Constitutional Court - decision n. 151/2014: off-label drugs
19 maggio 2014
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The Constitutional Court declared inadmissible the constitutional question raised in the judgment between Novartis and the Emilia-Romagna Region, promoted by the Emilia-Romagna Regional Administrative Court (Tribunale amministrativo regionale) and originating from an appeal of a resolution adopted by the Regional Council (Giunta) (October 26, 2009) allowing the medicine Avastin (La Roche) to be distributed as a Regional Health Service expenditure for the off-label treatment of age-related maculopathy (ARM).
Italian Constitutional Court - decision n. 268/2017: complications resulting from reccommended vaccinations
22 novembre 2017
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The Constitutional Court held that Art. 1, para. 1, of law n. 210/1992 (compensation for individuals harmed by irreversible complications resulting from compulsory vaccinations, transfusions and the administration of blood derivatives) is unconstitutional insofar as it does not also provide a right to compensation for those harmed by the recommended influenza vaccination.
Italian Constitutional Court - decision n. 84/2016: prohibition on the use of residual embryos for research purposes
22 marzo 2016
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The Constitutional Court held that the questions concerning the constitutionality of the prohibition on the use of residual embryos for research purposes raised by the Court of Florence (“Tribunale di Firenze”) are inadmissible.
Italian Constitutional Court - decision n. 151/2009: single and simultaneous implantation of no more than three embryos
8 maggio 2009
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The Court has declared paragraph 2 of Art. 14 of law n. 40 of 2004 ("Rules on medically assisted reproduction") unconstitutional, limited to the words "for one single and simultaneous implantation, and in any case not more than three" and to the third paragraph of the same article in the part where it does not provide that the transfer of embryos, to be carried out as soon as possible, must be carried out without compromising the woman’s health.
Pubblicato il: Martedì, 16 Luglio 2019 - Ultima modifica: Venerdì, 04 Ottobre 2019
