A judge at Madrid provincial court confirmed yesterday that he is closing an investigation into alleged malpractice at the Severo Ochoa Hospital, and ordered for all record of the allegations to be expunged from the records of the accused doctors.

Speaking on behalf of all those affected, Dr Luís Montes (main photo, right) said yesterday that they are "considering legal action of their own against those who, by deceiving judges and prosecutors, denounced 400 cases of active euthanasia at the Severo Ochoa Hospital."

Dr Montes added that he and his colleagues will also be asking regional president, Esperanza Aguirre to explain "how, when and who will be responsible for repairing the enormous damage caused to the reputations of the accused doctors and the hospital."

Dr Montes and his colleagues were accused of administering sedatives incorrectly to terminally ill patients at the hospital though it was never proven that this had contributed to their subsequent deaths.

Experts uphold Leganés hospital euthanasia allegations
By: ThinkSpain
Thursday, May 26, 2005

The team of experts who have been looking into allegations of irregular sedative use at the Severo Ochoa Hospital in Leganés has reached the conclusion that in 73 of the cases they have examined, there were "inappropriate or unnecessary" sedations, and that in four instances the sedations were "totally inadvisable."

Regional Health minister Manuel Lamela (second photo, PP) told journalists at a press conference that, "there is a direct link" between the deaths of these 73 patients, and the inappropriate prescription of drugs "used to relieve the suffering of terminally ill patients."

Mr Lamela claimed that the quantities prescribed were "notoriously excessive, administered not to ease pain, but to shorten life," which, he added, "is beyond Spanish law."

Furthermore, the minister insisted that the results of the inquiry were "conclusive" and leave no room for doubts.