Right to avoid protracted pain

Right to avoid protracted pain

Context:

• A five judge bench of the Supreme Court, headed by Chief Justice of India Dipak Misra,  in a landmark judgment legalised the right to die and approved ‘living will’ made by terminally-ill patients for passive euthanasia.

Government arguments:

• “Suffering is a state of mind and a perception, which varies from individual to individual and depends on various environmental and social factors.
• Continuous advancement in medical science has made possible good pain management in patients of cancer and other terminal illness,” the government had argued.

What is a Living Will?

•  Living will is a written document that allows a patient to give explicit instructions in advance about the medical treatment to be administered when he or she is terminally-ill or no longer able to express informed consent.

Background:

• The court’s ruling was pronounced on a 2005 plea filed by Prashant Bhushan on behalf of NGO Common Cause, which sought recognition of a living will so that an individual could exercise the right to refuse medical treatment at a terminally ill stage of life.
•  Prashant Bhushan, appearing for the NGO, had said that under Article 21 (Right to Life) a person had the right to die peacefully without any suffering and must be allowed to create a living will for a time when he cannot recover from an illness.