Medically Assisted Suicide and the Crisis of the National Healthcare System: A Brief Bioethical Analysis of the Italian Case

This paper examines the interplay between medically assisted suicide (MAS) and the structural crisis afflicting Italy's National Health Service (SSN). Prompted by Constitutional Court rulings nos. 66/2025 and 132/2025, which uphold stringent eligibility requirements and emphasize procedural safeguards within the SSN, the analysis investigates how systemic flaws—such as staff shortages, organizational bottlenecks, and inadequate palliative care access—undermine MAS implementation. These deficiencies, the paper contends, signal a deeper erosion of biomedical ethics, supplanted by market-driven approaches in public and private healthcare sectors. Amid the lack of national MAS legislation, this ethical and institutional shortfall underscores the pressing need for reforms to secure equitable end-of-life care and protect patient self-determination