EUTHANASIA

constitute a primary medical board to examine the option of passive euthanasia for a 31-year-old who has been in a vegetative state for over a decade because of quadriplegia. WHAT IS EUTHANASIA? The word ‘Euthanasia’ is derived from the Greek, ‘Eu’ meaning ‘good’ and ‘thanatos’ meaning ‘death’, put together it means ‘good death’. Euthanasia is defined as the hastening of death of a patient to prevent further sufferings.

TYPES

• Active euthanasia refers to the physician's deliberate act, usually the administration of lethal drugs, to end an incurably or terminally ill patient’s life. There are three types of active euthanasia in relation to giving consent for euthanasia, namely
  • voluntary euthanasia – at patient request,
  • non-voluntary – without patient consent,
  • involuntary euthanasia – the patient is not in a position to give consent.
• Passive euthanasia refers to withholding or withdrawing treatment which is necessary for maintaining life.

Legality: Passive euthanasia is generally accepted worldwide. Active involuntary euthanasia is illegal in almost all countries. It is considered criminal homicide in most of the countries.

LEGALITY IN INDIA

• Passive Euthanasia:
  • A five-judge bench of the Supreme Court in Common Cause vs. Union of India (2018) recognised a person’s right to die with dignity.
  • It said that a terminally ill person can opt for passive euthanasia and execute a living will to refuse medical treatment.
  • The Court permitted an individual to draft a living will specifying that she or he will not be put on life support if they slip into an incurable coma.
  • The Court recognised the right to die with dignity as a fundamental right and an aspect of Article 21 (Right to Life).

• Active euthanasia: In India, active euthanasia is a crime.

QUADRIPLEGIA

• Quadriplegia, or Tetraplegia, is a condition of paralysis that affects all the limbs and body from the neck to the down.
• The most common cause of quadriplegia is an injury to the spinal cord at the level of the neck.
• Quadriplegia is sometimes treatable, but in most cases injury results in permanent paralysis.
• Quadriplegia is when the person can’t deliberately control or move his muscles, and it can affect a person from the neck to down.
• Depending on how and why it happens, it can affect the ability to move parts of the body, as well as some of the body’s automatic processes that keep the person alive.