Emma Bonino admitted to intensive care in Rome with respiratory failure

Emergency hospitalization in Rome

Former Italian foreign minister and +Europa leader Emma Bonino was admitted in code red to the Santo Spirito Hospital in central Rome after suffering an acute respiratory crisis at her home. Emergency medical services were called to her residence in the capital during the afternoon of 7 September following a sudden deterioration in her breathing. Upon arrival at the emergency room, hospital medical staff transferred the 78-year-old politician to the intensive care unit as a precautionary measure. Bonino's personal physician, Claudio Santini, who previously monitored Radical Party leader Marco Pannella during Pannella's hunger and thirst strikes, remained in direct contact with the hospital medical team. Santini confirmed that diagnostic examinations were underway and that she had shown positive responses to emergency treatments.

Tests and an evaluation of parameters are underway following a worsening of respiratory function. She remains alert and lucid.

Clinical status and medical assessments

An official medical bulletin released on the morning of 8 September described Bonino's condition as delicate but stable. Hospital staff confirmed that she remained conscious and lucid throughout her first night in intensive care, with acceptable cardiocirculatory parameters and respiratory exchanges. Doctors noted that while her vitals were stable, she had not yet fully resolved the respiratory crisis that prompted her emergency admission. Specialists at Santo Spirito and Santini scheduled consultations to determine whether to maintain her in intensive care or transfer her to a medium-intensity care department. Medical personnel continue to carry out diagnostic tests to observe how her respiratory system responds to ongoing therapies.

Medical background and recovery from cancer

Bonino's medical history includes a 2015 diagnosis of microcytoma, an aggressive form of small cell carcinoma in her left lung, which required eight years of chemotherapy. She publicly announced that her treatments had concluded successfully in October 2023 during an appearance on the Rai 2 television program Belve with journalist Francesca Fagnani. In November 2025, Bonino experienced a previous emergency admission to Santo Spirito Hospital before being transferred to the stroke unit at San Filippo Neri Hospital for a week-long stay. During that 2025 hospitalization, physicians excluded a recurrence of her lung cancer and attributed the episode to metabolic complications. She had also received intensive care at the same Rome facility in October 2024 for respiratory difficulties.

I want to give you good news: I am cured of cancer. I still have to do a confirmation CT scan, but after 8 years this unwanted microcytoma is gone.

Political career and public service

Born in Bra in the province of Cuneo, Bonino has been an active figure in Italian and European politics for over five decades. She first gained national prominence in the 1970s through Radical Party civil rights campaigns, including the legalization of divorce and abortion, during which she turned herself in to authorities over unauthorized abortions to trigger public debate. Her political career includes tenures as a member of the Italian Chamber of Deputies and Senate, as European Commissioner for Consumer Policy, Fisheries and Humanitarian Aid, and as Italy's Minister of Foreign Affairs. Following the announcement of her hospitalization, political figures from across Italy's political spectrum issued statements of support.