Groningen Centre for Health Law

On February 15, 2025, the Regional Council of Tuscany in Italy approved a legislative proposal regulating “medically assisted voluntary death” at the regional level, more commonly known as “assisted suicide”. With this law, Tuscany became the first Italian region to establish a local legal framework for assisted suicide while awaiting the enactment of national legislation - a framework that, despite numerous attempts, has never been approved.

At the end of March 2017, the Italian Minister of Health Beatrice Lorenzin authorised the importation of generic medicines. She did this with only a veiled reference to the high-priced hepatitis C (HCV) medicine sofosbuvir, marketed under the trade name Sovaldi. However, the authorisation is not restricted to the treatment of HCV and can be used to find alternatives for any medicine not available or affordable in Italy.