Karnataka to implement 'right to die with dignity' order of Supreme Court

The Karnataka government has ordered the establishment of medical boards in state hospitals to process requests for dignified deaths through execution of living wills of terminally ill patients, Indian Express reported. .This decision follows a 2023 Supreme Court ruling that recognized the right to die with dignity as part of the right to life under Article 21 of the Constitution.Karnataka is the second State to implement this after Kerala. The State Health Minister Dinesh Gundu Rao announced on January 31 that the department has issued "a historic order" to implement the Supreme Court’s directive. He stated that this move would greatly benefit individuals who are terminally ill with no chance of recovery or in a persistent vegetative state, where life-sustaining treatment no longer provides any benefit..As per report, a health department circular on January 30 mandates the establishment of primary and secondary medical boards in hospitals to review requests from patients' nearest relatives for the Withdrawal of Life-Sustaining Therapy (WLST) based on living wills.“We have also come out with an Advance Medical Directive (AMD), or a living will, in which a patient can record their wishes about their medical treatment in the future. This important step will bring great relief and a dignified sense of closure to many families and individuals,” the report stated..A living will/advance directive is a document that persons with deteriorating health or the terminally ill can execute in advance, through which they can choose not to remain in a vegetative state with life support system if they enter into a state when it will not be possible for them to express their wishes. Such a document could then be presented to a hospital for appropriate action in the event the executant’s health worsens..In 2018, a five-judge Constitution Bench had recognised and given sanction for passive euthanasia and living will/advance directives.In that judgment, the top court had ruled that the right to life under Article 21 includes the right to live with dignity, and the same includes the smoothening of the process of dying in case of a terminally ill patient or a person in persistent vegetative state with no hope of recovery.The judgment also provided for establishment of medical boards in hospitals to assess and give effect to such living wills..In January 2023, the Supreme Court modified its 2018 judgment to do away with the role of Judicial Magistrate First Class (JMFC) in giving sanction and validity to the living will/ advance directive executed by a person.The Court specified that the document expressing the living will/ advance directive would need to be attested only by a notary or a gazetted officer to record their satisfaction that the same was signed willingly.The 2023 judgment also made changes to the composition of medical boards and detailed the manner in which they should act..The Karnataka government has now mandated the establishment of such boards in all government hospitals.