Bengaluru: The Karnataka government passed an order Friday to implement the Supreme Court’s directive on the right to die with dignity for terminally ill patients.
The right to die with dignity is for people suffering from terminal illness, with no signs of recovery, and facing conditions of lifelong hardship.
The order also mentioned the establishment of two committees, each comprising two doctors, to decide on granting permission for mercy killing.
State Health and Family Welfare Minister Dinesh Gundu Rao said his department passed a “historic” order to implement the Supreme Court’s directive for a patient’s ‘Right to Die’ with dignity, which will immensely benefit those who are terminally ill with no hope of recovery or are in a persistent vegetative state, and where the patient no longer benefits from life-sustaining treatment.
Rao also shared that the department has also come out with an Advance Medical Directive (AMD), or a living will, in which one can record their wishes about their medical treatment in the future. This important step will bring great relief and a dignified sense of closure to many families and individuals,” Minister Rao stated.
“Karnataka is a progressive state and we are always at the forefront in upholding liberal and equitable values for a just society,” Minister Rao stated.
The order by the Karnataka government said, “By the order of the Supreme Court dated Jan 24, 2023, in Miscellaneous Application in Writ Petition of 2005, the District Health Officers of all districts in the state are required to nominate registered medical practitioners who can serve as members of the Secondary Medical Board to certify Withholding/Withdrawing of life-sustaining treatment (WLST) where the patient is terminally ill with no hope of recovery or is in a persistent vegetative state and where the patient no longer benefits from the life-sustaining treatment.”
“Accordingly, the government hereby issues the following order. Any neurologist, neurosurgeon, surgeon, anaesthetist or intensivist who has been approved by the Appropriate Authority, under subsection 6 of section 3 of The Transplantation of Human Organs and Tissues Act, 1994 read with Amendment Act 2011, to form part of the Board of Medical Experts for the certification of brain-stem death, shall be deemed to be nominated by the District Health Officer of the district as registered medical practitioners who may serve as a member of the Secondary Medical Board,” the order copy read.
The Principal Secretary to Government, Health and Family Welfare Department, Harsh Gupta, signed the order January 30.
