Living Will and Euthanasia

 Living Will

 

A “Living Will” is a legal document which detailed the medical care needed by the person, who wrote that Will. Because he may be unable to make conscious decisions or communication when medical attention needed.

 

In India - Living Will have legal since March 2018, when the Supreme Court created a process to allow terminally ill patients, with no hope of cure, to withhold or withdraw medical treatment and to die with dignity.

 

Living Will can be made by writing and attested by two witnesses and further attested by a Notary Public Lawyer or a Gazetted officer.

 

Voluntary euthanasia 

Euthanasia is a Greek word, and it means good-death or dying well.

 

Voluntary euthanasia is the ending of a person’s life at their request in order to relieve them of suffering. In some of the countries, this voluntary euthanasia is legal.

 

In India, since March 2018 passive euthanasia is legal under strict guidelines. Patients must consent through a ‘living will’, and must be either terminally ill, or in a vegetative state.

 

Euthanasia brings many ethical issues. Some believe that the terminally ill patient should have the right to choose death or refuse life-saving treatment. Some physicians state that it is in violation of Hippocratic oath.

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