Former Chief Justice of India (CJI) said a terminally-ill patient or a person in a persistent vegetative state should not be made an “experimental object” and one must respect his dignity. Referring to the Supreme Court’s landmark verdict on passive euthanasia which recognised that a terminally -ill patient or a person in persistent vegetative state can execute an “advance medical directive” or a “living will” to refuse medical treatment, Justice (retd) said if a person cannot die with dignity, it was akin to affecting his or her identity. “Let us not make him (patient in a persistent vegetative state) an experimental object.
Let us respect his dignity and let us respect his humanity. How can relatives say that medical aid should be stopped, “when the doctor says we will put the patient on a ventilator and there is 50-50?”, he said. Justice (retd) said he knew how people were suffering…
