The Union Health Ministry has issued a new guideline regarding passive euthanasia i.e. removal of life support of people who are seriously ill and are alive only through life support. In the new guidelines issued by the Health Ministry in this matter, doctors have been told that they can decide on removing the life support of a patient only after keeping in mind certain conditions. Let us tell you about it in detail.
The decision will be taken on the basis of these four conditions
The new guidelines of the Union Health Ministry mention four conditions on the basis of which doctors can decide whether to remove the life support of a sick person or not. The first condition is that the patient has been declared brain dead. The second condition is that the investigation should reveal that the patient’s disease has reached advanced stage and in this situation there will be no benefit of treatment. The third condition is that there is a refusal from the patient or family members to continue life support. The fourth and last condition is that the process of removing life support should be done as per the guidelines set by the Supreme Court.
There is also about terminal illness in the draft
Terminal illness has also been mentioned in the new guidelines for passive euthanasia issued by the Health Ministry. Actually, terminal disease is such an incurable condition in which there is a high possibility of death in the near future. Terminal illness also includes severe brain injuries in which no improvement is seen for 72 hours or more. According to the new guidelines, many such patients in ICU are terminally ill for whom life sustaining treatment is unlikely to provide any benefit.
What did the Indian Medical Association say?
According to the report of Dainik Bhaskar, Dr. RV Ashokan, President of the Indian Medical Association, said on this new guideline that these guidelines will bring doctors under the ambit of legal scrutiny and this will increase the stress on them. He further said that Dr. always takes such clinical decisions with good intentions. He says that before doing this, the doctor explains the situation thoroughly to the patient’s family members and takes a decision only after examining every aspect.
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