{"id":33016,"date":"2024-09-29T03:29:43","date_gmt":"2024-09-28T21:59:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/?p=33016"},"modified":"2025-04-19T17:57:37","modified_gmt":"2025-04-19T12:27:37","slug":"euthanasia-in-india","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/euthanasia-in-india\/","title":{"rendered":"Euthanasia in India"},"content":{"rendered":"<h2><strong>What\u2019s in today\u2019s article?<\/strong><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>Why in News?<\/li>\n<li>What is Euthanasia?<\/li>\n<li>Draft guidelines on passive euthanasia<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2><strong>Why in News?<\/strong><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>The &#8216;Draft Guidelines for Withdrawal of Life Support in Terminally Ill Patients,&#8217; was released by the Union Health Ministry. Feedback and suggestions have been invited from the stakeholders on the draft by October 20.<\/li>\n<li>While doctors have been informally advising families to withdraw care for terminal patients, there was no formal legal framework.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2><strong>What is Euthanasia?<\/strong><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>About<\/strong>\n<ul>\n<li>Euthanasia is defined as the <strong>hastening of death of a patient to prevent further sufferings<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li><strong>Types<\/strong>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Active Euthanasia<\/strong>\n<ul>\n<li>Active euthanasia refers to the physician deliberate act, usually the administration of lethal drugs, to end an incurably or terminally ill patient\u2019s life.<\/li>\n<li>There are three types of active euthanasia, in relation to giving consent for euthanasia, namely:\n<ul>\n<li>Voluntary euthanasia \u2013 at patient request,\u00a0<\/li>\n<li>Nonvoluntary \u2013 without patient consent,\u00a0<\/li>\n<li>Involuntary euthanasia \u2013 patient is not in a position to give consent.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li><strong>Passive Euthanasia\u00a0<\/strong>\n<ul>\n<li>Passive euthanasia refers to the intentional withholding or withdrawal of medical treatments or life-sustaining interventions, allowing a person to die naturally from their underlying condition.\u00a0<\/li>\n<li>This can include stopping treatments like ventilators, feeding tubes, or medications that keep the patient alive.<\/li>\n<li>Decisions for passive euthanasia are typically made based on the patient&#8217;s wishes, advance directives, or through family members and healthcare proxies when the patient cannot make decisions themselves.\u00a0<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li><strong>Legality in India<\/strong>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Passive euthanasia<\/strong>\n<ul>\n<li>A five-judge bench of the Supreme Court in Common Cause vs Union of India (2018) recognised a person\u2019s right to die with dignity.\n<ul>\n<li>It said that a terminally ill person can opt for passive euthanasia and execute a living will to refuse medical treatment.\u00a0<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li>The Court permitted an individual to draft a living will specifying that she or he will not be put on life support if they slip into an incurable coma.<\/li>\n<li>The Court recognised the right to die with dignity as a fundamental right and an aspect of Article 21 (Right to Life).<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li><strong>Active euthanasia<\/strong>\n<ul>\n<li>In India, active euthanasia is a crime.\u00a0<\/li>\n<li>Only those who are brain dead can be taken off life support with the help of family members.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li><strong>Legality in other parts of the world<\/strong>\n<ul>\n<li>Euthanasia is legal in several countries. Euthanasia is legal in the Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg, and Spain.\u00a0<\/li>\n<li>Switzerland allows assisted suicide.\u00a0<\/li>\n<li>Canada permits both euthanasia and assisted suicide, while certain U.S. states, such as Oregon, Washington, and California, allow assisted suicide under strict regulations. Colombia has legalized euthanasia.\u00a0<\/li>\n<li>Each country or region has specific criteria, such as terminal illness or unbearable suffering, that must be met for euthanasia or assisted suicide to be performed legally.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2><strong>Draft guidelines on passive euthanasia<\/strong><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Defined terminal illness<\/strong>\n<ul>\n<li>The draft has defined terminal illness as an irreversible or incurable condition from which death is inevitable in the foreseeable future.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li><strong>Based on four conditions<\/strong>\n<ul>\n<li>The guidelines for withdrawing or withholding medical treatment in terminally ill patients are based on four key conditions:\n<ul>\n<li>The individual has been declared brainstem dead.<\/li>\n<li>There is a medical assessment that the patient&#8217;s condition is advanced and unlikely to improve with aggressive treatment.<\/li>\n<li>The patient or their surrogate has provided informed refusal to continue life support after understanding the prognosis.<\/li>\n<li>The procedure follows the directives set by the Supreme Court.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li><strong>Allow patients to decide on life support and resuscitation<\/strong>\n<ul>\n<li>Developed by AIIMS experts, these guidelines allow patients to decide on life support and resuscitation.\u00a0<\/li>\n<li>They also permit the withdrawal of supportive care such as ventilation or dialysis if a patient is brain dead, unlikely to benefit from further intervention, and if the patient or surrogate refuses care.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li><strong>Provisions related to advance medical directives<\/strong>\n<ul>\n<li>The guidelines also mention advance medical directives, where individuals document their treatment preferences in case they lose decision-making capacity.\u00a0<\/li>\n<li>The physician, upon deeming life-sustaining treatments inappropriate, will refer the case to a primary medical board for review.\u00a0<\/li>\n<li>If the board agrees, a shared decision is made with the family, and a secondary medical board\u2019s approval is required before withdrawing support.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<hr \/>\n<h3><strong>Q.1. What are the main provisions of India\u2019s new passive euthanasia guidelines?<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>\nThe guidelines allow terminally ill patients to decide on life support and resuscitation. Patients or their surrogates can refuse care if the condition is deemed incurable, following a review by medical boards. Advance medical directives are also recognized.<\/p>\n<h3><strong>Q.2. How does India\u2019s legal framework handle passive euthanasia?<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>The Supreme Court&#8217;s 2018 ruling recognizes the right to die with dignity, allowing passive euthanasia. Active euthanasia remains illegal, but patients can refuse life-sustaining treatment through a living will, aligning with the draft guidelines<strong>.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>Source: <\/strong><a href=\"https:\/\/indianexpress.com\/article\/cities\/delhi\/govt-comes-up-with-new-draft-guidelines-on-passive-euthanasia-9593697\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\"><u>Govt comes up with new draft guidelines on passive euthanasia<\/u><\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/timesofindia.indiatimes.com\/life-style\/health-fitness\/health-news\/what-govts-new-draft-guidelines-say-about-passive-euthanasia\/articleshowprint\/113768591.cms\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\"><u>Times of India<\/u><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Union Health Ministry has released draft guidelines on passive euthanasia, allowing patients to decide on life support and resuscitation. Learn about its legal framework and impact.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":33017,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-33016","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-upsc-mains-current-affairs","8":"no-featured-image-padding"},"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33016","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=33016"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33016\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/33017"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=33016"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=33016"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=33016"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}