85,000 SOUTH KOREAN PATIENTS DIED WITH DIGNITY
They chose to forgo life-prolonging treatment since legalisation of right to die two years ago
MORE than 85,000 terminally-ill South Koreans have chosen to forgo life-prolonging treatment since the legalisation of the right to die with dignity two years ago.
The law, which took effect on Feb 4, 2018, allowed terminal patients to sign up to forgo a “meaningless extension of life” by stopping or postponing four life-sustaining treatments.
The Yonhap News Agency said data from the Health and Welfare Ministry showed the number of patients who opted to die with dignity stood at 85,076 over the past two years.
Of the total, 51,016 of the patients were male, with 80 per cent of them being 60 or older.
The four treatments — cardiopulmonary resuscitation, artificial respiration, hemodialysis and anti-cancer drug administration — are only meant to prolong the lives of terminally-ill patients without giving any treatment from the start.
The government data showed that slightly over 37,300 terminally-ill patients have registered with authorities to die with dignity without receiving further treatment.
A total of 577,000 people have registered a letter of intent with hospitals and public organisations to stop receiving treatment once they became terminally ill.
Under the law, those aged 19 years and above can sign documents saying they would opt to stop receiving medical treatment after enough explanation from doctors.
The government has built a national database of applications, which doctors can refer to when deciding whether to continue to put their terminally-ill patients on machines to keep them alive or to let them die according to their will.