Hi,
 
It’s Monday, here I am! My talk today is about Advance Decisions. A topic which is never too early to talk about.
 
The so-called Advanced Decisions were introduced in Italy by Law 219/2017.
 
The Advanced Declarations are the declarations through which any adult of age and “compos mentis”, in anticipation of a possible future inability to self-determine, can express his will regarding health treatments and also the consent or refusal with respect to diagnostic tests or therapeutic choices. On 17.1.2020 with the publication of the Italian Decree of Ministry of Health of 10.12.2019 some important regulatory rules have been implemented.
 
In particular, the creation of a national database at the Ministry of Health. The database has the function of receiving a copy of all Advanced Decisions, ensuring their timely updating in case of renewal, modification or revocation and ensuring the full accessibility of the AD both by the doctor who is treating the patient and by the trustee appointed by him/her.
 The data bank will have monitored accesses (recorded for 12 months) and will also keep in its records the AD already submitted before January 2020 to local administrations, health agencies of the regions and notaries, who will have six months (from the actual start of the single Database) to transfer the AD already submitted.
 
The measure allows the full publicity of the information on AD, which is essential in order to respect the will of those concerned. The data will be sent to the municipal registries by notaries and regions where the Electronic Health Record is operational (which has a section dedicated to AD). The owner of the database, also for privacy purposes, is the Ministry of Health. After 10 years from death, the data will be deleted.
 
Advanced Decisions can be made in various ways: by going to a notary public and signing a public deed or a notarized private deed; or by means of a private deed delivered personally by the person concerned at the civil status office of his or her municipality of residence, which shall keep it in a special register.
 
Since the Civil Servant is not involved in the compilation of the AD and does not provide information on the subject, it is advisable to obtain prior advice from your trusted lawyer.