Al crocevia del “Caso Stamina” e dei suoi “problemi costituzionali”

Abstract

This paper focuses on the so-called Stamina case, involving Stamina Foundation and its stem cells therapies. The promise of finding a cure for desperately severe conditions offered once again the chance to reflect upon the difficulties arising in balancing the individual need for care and a minimum scientific and rational standard. The issue at stake is about when and how the State response to individual requests made by patients in tragic clinical conditions can be limited or refused on the basis of more general considerations concerning safety and sustainability. Recent facts open space for a reflection about the role and responsibilities of physicians, on the one hand, and legislators and judges, on the other one, in giving shape to the right to health and in marking its borders.