Terminal sedation is a civil right

Luis Montes is immersed in a legal battle to restore his good name and has announced legal actions against senior politicians and journalists to calumniaron. Yesterday in Santander said that he expects the president of the Community of Madrid, Esperanza Aguirre, and his former advisor of Health, Manuel Lamela, "passing through the dock"

In January, the Justice determined that there was no medical malpractice in the Severo Ochoa hospital in Leganes, a number of whose practitioners were accused three years ago of practicing sedaciones' irregular 'on terminally ill. And yesterday, the Forum Becedo discussion saluted the main suspect. Dr. Luis Montes spoke at the School of Boating 'Sedation in terminally ill patients' and before, declared to the media that death with dignity "is a civil right" and urged all families who feel that it is refusing to complain.

Do you think that this society accepts and supports, especially, are well informed about what is the terminal sedation?

--Informed-in technical terms, no. But it needs. From my long experience, when it attends to a patient, and the prognosis is infausto, and we know that death is a matter of hours, the first response is to assume the relatives hard drink. The duel, in which the doctor tries to follow. And, secondly, is to ask that the dying will not suffer. This petition is assuming sedation and is universal. I have not seen absolutely anyone claiming to be left to die in pain someone dear.

Why not take this practice as a treatment?

--Well, the last time this had much to do with the brutal media campaign undertaken by the Ministry of Health against Severo Ochoa, in which even came to say that this was not a conventional therapy. Faced with this great campaign of fear, and with all the lies that were knowingly, there was a strong process of loss of confidence in the doctor-patient relationship. It should be borne in mind that there were people who were in the media, that his father had entered on his own foot in the hospital and, within a few hours, that person was tranquillized. How is left to say this now that the physician-patient relationships are so cross with continuous information to families about what was being done?. Nor can it be that in this country, as a result of this problem some autonomous communities have developed protocols on the matter and others do not. Today you die with more dignity in Andalusia, where doctors have a guide for symptomatic treatments, which in Madrid.

With the strong-created controversy surrounding the case Leganes was generated against a campaign with the slogan 'I also wish that I meet Dr. Montes'. Is this or is gratified and there's nothing to compensate for what happened?

- Of course it is a form of gratification. I maintain that terminal sedation is a civil right, perfectly regulated in our legislation. The only thing missing is a regulation that disclosure in this country and there is a right to die with dignity, and the non-receipt, you can complain. Because the terminal sedation is not punishable. Quite the opposite, which is punishable omit it. Although maybe this time is not the best election to open this debate.