A Constitution Bench on January 17 questioned the utility of executing an Advance Medical Directive, or living will, in India when a person is free to refuse invasive treatment and accept death.
Key points
- A five judge Bench, led by Justice K.M. Joseph, is considering a plea to modify a March 2018 judgment which upheld passive euthanasia and advance directives, but made the process of implementing it cumbersome.
- The bench observed that the Right to Life cannot be devalued while stressing that the right to die with dignity was also a part of Article 21 of the Constitution.
- The court noted it will modify ‘Living Will’ guidelines for passive euthanasia.
- It noted that the 2018 judgment that laid down guidelines in recognition of living wills made by the terminally ill patients need a “little tweaking”.
2018 judgement
- In 2018 a 5-Judge Constitution Bench (Common Cause v Union of India) held unanimously held that the right to die with dignity was a fundamental right, as an extension of the right to life and liberty under Article 21 of the Constitution of India, 1950.
Advance medical directives
- Advance medical directives are legal documents that state a person’s wishes about receiving medical care if that person is no longer able to make medical decisions because of a serious illness or injury. They are called advance directives because they communicate preferences before incapacitation occurs.
There are 2 primary types of advanced directives:
- 1. Living will: Expresses preferences for medical treatment and end-of-life care. Living Will is a document of a person to decide on ending life in case he becomes terminally ill, gets into vegetative state and has no hope of recovery .
- 2. Durable power of attorney for health care: Designates a surrogate decision maker.
Active and Passive euthanasia
- Active euthanasia: It occurs when the medical professionals, or another person, deliberately do something that causes the patient to die.
- Passive euthanasia: It occurs when the patient dies because the medical professionals either don’t do something necessary to keep the patient alive, or when they stop doing something that is keeping the patient alive. Examples; switch off life-support machines, disconnect a feeding tube don’t carry out a life-extending operation, don’t give life-extending drugs.
