Right to Die With Dignity

SNU Hospital's Bold Step to Influence Top Court Ruling

Seoul National University (SNU) Hospital's decision to honor terminally ill cancer patients' self-determination to halt ``meaningless and excessive treatment'' is expected to rekindle a debate over the right to ``death with dignity.'' The move has significant implications, as patients will be able to decide on how they die.

What's surprising is that the hospital has already allowed such patients with no chance of survival to refuse life-supporting treatment. On Monday, it disclosed the hospital files of 656 terminal-cancer patients who died in 2007. The hospital said its doctors accepted decisions by 436, or 85 percent, of the patients to stop meaningless ``life-extension'' treatment.

The SNU hospital has introduced a ``Do Not Resuscitate'' (DNR) statement so that terminally ill cancer patients or their family members can decide on their own fate. This means that the hospital is taking a due step to recognize a patients' right to die with dignity. In reality, it is still illegal for doctors or family members to remove life-support devices from patients, terminally ill or not. There are no laws or regulations governing the right to ``death with dignify'' as all types of euthanasia are banned in South Korea.

But, there are growing calls for the introduction of ``passive'' euthanasia that will allow patients in a vegetative state or diagnosed with brain death to have their life ended by doctors removing respirators or other life-sustaining machines to help relieve their pain. This kind of mercy killing is different from ``active'' euthanasia which enables the terminally ill to die through lethal injections.

All men are endowed to lead a life with dignity. Why can't the same human dignity be applied at the moment of death? This is not an easy question to be answered. In other words, the ``death with dignify'' issue should be tackled on the basis of national consensus. And it is time to actively debate the sensitive problem to build this.

In this regard, SNU hospital's move is seen as a move to allow terminally ill patients to have calm and peaceful final moments instead of prolonged pain arising from hopeless life-extension tools. In fact, everyone can easily understand how painful and meaningless it is for patients with no hope to live on respirators or other devices.

The February death of Cardinal Stephen Kim Sou-hwan has had a positive influence on public awareness about the right to die with dignity as he faced his death naturally at the age of 86 by refusing any life-support devices. Against this backdrop, we believe it is mature to move toward respecting patients' self-determination.

Specifically, the Supreme Court is scheduled to make a decision on a case this Thursday in which family members of a 75-year-old lung cancer patient in a coma have asked doctors at the Seoul-based Severance Hospital to remove feeding and ventilator tubes from her. At stake is whether to uphold lower court rulings to allow the removal of the life-assisting machines. The impending final decision will mark a watershed on this important issue.

[출처 : 코리아타임스]