‘Well-dying’ bill passed in National Assembly

By Park Sae-jin Posted : January 11, 2016, 15:55 Updated : January 11, 2016, 15:55

[AJU NEWS DB]



South Korean National Assembly had passed ‘Well dying’ bill on Friday. From 2018, patients with no hope of recovering may choose to refuse life-sustaining treatment.

The idea of ‘death with dignity’ or ‘well-dying’ had been a controversy for years. Some family members patients and the sick themselves who experience great pain but with no hope of getting any better, like terminal cancer patients, had wished such right to end their life of pain.

The law had forbidden such acts because it can violate individuals’ rights to live on. Questions rose from the public that if it’s a right thing for someone else to choose life or death decisions for patients in coma, or for those who suffer mental diseases. Opinions conflicted, no answer made.

But with the passing of the bill, patients in possession of his or her mental faculties can choose. If the patient chooses to refuse life-sustaining treatments, doctors can stop treatment such as CPR, mechanical ventilation, and chemotherapy.

If a patient is not able to express his or her wish because of situations like coma, and mental illness, the patient’s family members can decide. The law will apply if all members of the family agree.

For patients who do not have a family to make the decision, the hospital’s ethic board can decide. The board needs at least two doctors’ confirmation that the patient’s condition is incurable.

A doctor facing murder charges after releasing a dying patient from a hospital at family’s request in 1997 sparked the debate over well-dying in Korea. In 2008, Family of a coma patient sued a large hospital demanding it stop treating. The Supreme Court ruled in favor of the family, respecting the family’s decision to have the patient die with dignity.


아주경제 박세진 기자 = swatchsjp@ajunews.com
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