New Delhi: The Supreme Magistrate of India has shown new direction in what may be the first judicially sanctioned specimen of passive euthanasia. The magistrate has ordered the insemination of a secondary medical workbench at AIIMS, New Delhi, which will evaluate whether a person's life support and treatment can be removed or not. The man has lived in a vegetative state for nearly a decade, and the specimen is now surpassing the magistrate for the first time on its way to approving passive euthanasia.
The patient's condition is very serious and painful
The Supreme Magistrate seat has described the condition of this 31-year-old youth as “very pathetic.” He has been in a semi-conscious state for the past 13 years with 100% powerlessness and severe health deterioration, resulting in deep and painful bedsores. Doctors have said that there is no possibility of resurgence in his condition.
The magistrate said that when the patient is going through such a difficult condition in a vegetative state and there are no signs of relapse, then it can be considered a specimen worthy of proceeding. The seat clarified that the necessary medical viewing and legal process should now be decided to take it forward, and hence the insemination of a separate medical workbench is necessary.
Role of AIIMS Medical Board
The Supreme Magistrate has directed AIIMS to constitute a secondary medical board, whose report has to be submitted to the magistrate by December 17. The magistrate will then decide whether it is legally possible to remove life support such as feeding tubes and clinically assisted hydration from the patient.
This order comes without the preliminary medical board's observation given on November 26, which had visited the patient's home and inspected his condition. The workbench worked at that time had said that the chances of recovery of the youth were negligible and the situation was serious.
Legal context of passive euthanasia
Passive euthanasia is legally recognized in India without the 2018 Common Cause judgment, in which the Magistrate held that the option of removing life support from a terminally ill or coma-like patient is possible under a legal process. In this decision, many security measures and the need for medical viewing were moreover mentioned.
Since this decision, many families have approached the Supreme Court, such as in the specimen of Harish Rana, where his parents had sought permission for passive euthanasia for their son, who had been in a vegetative state for years.
Now without the report of the AIIMS board, the magistrate will decide to what extent medical aid can be legally stopped. This visualization may provide a no-forward direction not only for this individual but moreover in future cases where treatment shows no resurgence and the patient's nobility and suffering are at issue.
