In 2009, the Italian senate passed a new law concerning advance decisions. This passing was triggered by the controversy concerning an Italian woman who had been lying in a coma vigil for 17 years before the cessation of artificial feeding was carried through by her father eventually. In the eyes of critics this jurisdiction was seen as a case of “creative case law” which from their point of view deliberately leads to drifting towards euthanasia. The law prohibited all forms of euthanasia and regulated handling advance decisions. According to that law doctors were not supposed to consider them legally binding. The only context those decisions were to be taken under consideration is when it came to dealing with a coma patient. But even if the patient’s decision explicitly expressed his or her will to no longer be fed or respired artificially the law prohibited following that call. The chamber of deputies voted in favor of the edited bill in July 2012.

On 14 December 2017, however, applicable law has been revised. Since then, advance decisions are considered binding for medical professionals in Italy. Furthermore, patients can now refuse artificial feeding and respiration.