Union Health Ministry released a new draft of guidelines on passive euthanasia.
The new guidelines suggest that doctors should make considered decisions on withdrawing life support for terminally ill patients based on specific conditions.
The guidelines aim to ensure that decisions have been taken in the best interest of patients by considering factors like brainstem death and informed refusal by the patient or their kin.
The ‘Draft Guidelines for Withdrawal of Life Support in Terminally Ill Patients’ also states that doctors should not consider the decision to not start a life-supporting measure in a terminally ill patient that is unlikely to benefit the patient.
The Union ministry has invited feedback and suggestions from the stakeholders on the draft by October 20.
The draft document states that many patients in the ICU are terminally ill, and not expected to benefit from life-sustaining treatments (LST).
