Chilean leader rejects ailing teenager's euthanasia plea

Chilean President Michelle Bachelet on Thursday turned down an ailing teenager's request for allowing euthanasia to end the latter's suffering.

Valentina Maureira, 14, who suffers from cystic fibrosis, sent the plea earlier in the day, and caught the nation's attention.

In a video posted online, Maureira, whose brother died of the same disease, asked the president "to authorize the injection so I can sleep forever."

"The current laws in Chile do not allow the government to agree to a request of this nature," said Presidential Spokesman Alvaro Elizalde.

But the government could offer its support "to improve her living conditions," he said.

Chile's deputy health minister, Jaime Burrows, meanwhile, said "it's not possible to speed up death when one is suffering from such a disease."

But he said Chilean law does allow patients, or their legal guardians, to decline treatments that artificially prolong their lives.

Burrows asked the hospital treating the girl to evaluate her case and make a recommendation.

The young teenager has suffered from the hereditary disease -- which mainly attacks the lungs, but also other organs -- since she was six months old.

Her older brother died of the ailment at the age of six. Her sister has been diagnosed as an asymptomatic carrier, meaning she could come down with the disease. Endi