Many critically ill patients, including terminally ill cancer patients, eventually reach a stage where they can’t be revived. But treatment has to be continued, extending the agony of the patients which also results in a serious financial burden for the family. In such cases, the decision to opt for passive euthanasia is helpful but it can also be misused.
The choice to opt out of life-support through a living will not only saves many from end-of-life suffering but also prevent families from exhausting their resources on a patient who has no practical chance of survival. Recently, in a landmark verdict, Supreme Court allowed passive euthanasia, under which a person suffering from a terminal disease and in his/her last stage of life with no chance of recovery is allowed not to sustain life through artificial support system. Hospitals and doctors have welcomed this Supreme Court verdict…
