J Korean Med Assoc.  2009 Sep;52(9):848-855. 10.5124/jkma.2009.52.9.848.

The Implications and Significance of the Case at Severance Hospital

• Park HW

• KMID: 1936488
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.5124/jkma.2009.52.9.848

Abstract

This year on May 21st, the full panel of the Supreme Court in Korea had first made a judgment on 'withdrawal of life-sustaining management'. In this case, where a 76 -year-old patient was represented by her children, while being in a persistent vegetative status, the Supreme Court ruled that if a patient is in an irreversible condition with imminent death and the discontinuation of treatment can be approved as the patient's self -determination, while such action will not be allowed in any other special circumstances. This judgement presented the general criteria and process of withdrawal of life -sustaining management in Korea for the first time. The Supreme Court also brought about the specific requirements of advance directives and decided that in case where legal proceedings are not taken, the hospital ethic committee constiting of medical specialists should decide whether the patient is in an irreversible condition. However, the judgment vaguely defined the concept of 'irreversible death-imminent condition' and did not clearly examine the relations between the patient's right on self-determination and the duty of the national government to protect the life of the people, and the discretionary power of the doctor.

Keyword

Life-sustaining management; Advance directives; Hospital ethics committee; Death with dignity; Euthanasia

MeSH Terms

Advance Directives
Child
Ethics Committees, Clinical
Ethics, Institutional
Euthanasia
Federal Government
Humans
Judgment
Korea
Patient Rights
Right to Die
Specialization

Reference

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