The History Of Euthanasia Law Medical Essay

Published Date: 02 Nov 2017

A REPORT

IN

ECO-JOURNALISM

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SUBMITTED BY:

SHALINI JHA

PRN- 10060221017

TY. B.Sc (ECONOMICS)

SYMBIOSIS SCHOOL OF ECONOMICS

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EUTHANASIA: JOURNEY SO FAR!

– (a case perspective in India)

Abstract:

Derek Humphry, British- born American journalist and author says, - "While it is true that we have no control over our births, at least we ought to have control over our deaths. How can we claim to be free people if someone else's morals and standards govern the way we die? And that every competent adult has the incontestable right to humankind’s ultimate civil and personal liberty – the right to die in a manner and at a time of their own choosing." [1] However different people, different community and different nations have differing views on the same.

This paper presents the various aspects of euthanasia, the way it has evolved over a period of time (being practiced in the form of thalaikootal (involuntary form of euthanasia) in the southern districts of tamilnadu long ago to the legalising of passive euthanasia, since the commence of the shanbaug case), in case of India.

The paper further analyses some of the case studies taken from different countries, which demanded passive euthanasia but were denied and ultimately, the consequences were death after immense suffering in all the cases.

After long years of debate and pondering upon the sufferings of people in the vegetative state and irreversible coma, there came a concept of "Euthanasia", in the year 1870 [2] .

History of euthanasia:

The debate on euthanasia is going on since a long time. Even it was practiced in ancient Greece and Rome. For example- on the island of Kea and Marseilles, a means of hastening death called as hemlock was practiced a long time ago.

In a way of deliberately hastening a person’s death, euthanasia received enormous support from Socrates, Plato and Seneca the elder in the ancient world, although it was seen to be opposed by Hippocrates. Judeo- Christian tradition was seen strongly opposing euthanasia while Thomas Aquinas and a French physician, Francois ranchin were seen both opposing and arguing against euthanasia. They said that it is against the natural human instincts of survival.

Euthanasia was found to be more acceptable under Protestantism and during the age of Enlightenment.

But as there are two facets of one coin, similarly, this contentious issue had two aspects and thereby there were some people who were arguing for euthanasia like John Donne in 1624. It was then in 1678, when a debate on the topic was initiated by the publication of "Caspar questel’s De Pulvinari morientibus non subtrahend, (meaning, on the pillow of which the dying should not be deprived). By this, various customs employed to hasten death of the dying (for e.g. it was believed that, the removal of the pillow suddenly hastens death) were argued against and described by Questel, as against the law of nature. [3] 

There were many others who opposed euthanasia in the course of time but in spite of their opposition, euthanasia sustained a long way and it still continues to be one of the most contentious issues of debate.

Introduction:

Euthanasia or mercy killing, as it is called, has a Greek origin, meaning "good death".

Euthanasia is an act, when a person into a permanent and persistent vegetative state, who is suffering from an incurable and painful disease, is put to death painlessly by medically removing or terminating the life support system.

There are different forms of euthanasia, as can be seen from below;

(1)- Voluntary Euthanasia – euthanasia given to someone with his or her own consent is termed as voluntary euthanasia. This is active voluntary euthanasia and it is legal in Belgium, Luxemburg and Netherlands.

It is passive voluntary euthanasia, when euthanasia is physician assisted and simultaneously with the concern of the patient. It is also termed as assisted suicide. It is legalised in the US states of Oregon, Washington and Montana and Switzerland.

(2)- Non- Voluntary euthanasia - this is the case, where the approval of the patient is not taken and he/she is put to death. E.g. is child euthanasia, which is illegal throughout the world but has been legalised somehow in Netherlands under the Groningen protocol.

(3)- Involuntary euthanasia – involuntary euthanasia is the death given to the patient without his/ her will.

(4)- Passive and Active Euthanasia – all the above three can be classified further into passive and active euthanasia.

Passive euthanasia is the phenomenon under which, the ways of common treatment such as feeding with the antibiotics, which are important for survival are withhold.

On the other hand, Active Euthanasia is the phenomenon, under which, the patient is put to death by administering fatal substances or forces, such as toxic injections, lethal drugs etc.

The issue of euthanasia is subject to many controversies and many forms of euthanasia have been in practice since a long time.

Laws pertaining to Euthanasia [4] :

The report basically analyses the laws pertaining to euthanasia in India in comparison with USA and UK. Only three countries have been taken for case study because of the time constraints and some of the other reasons being as follows;

USA has been compared because, it is one of the most developed nations, with similar laws as India and it denies active euthanasia, while legalising passive euthanasia to lawfully end the life of a person which is dull, miserable, demeaning, undignified and intolerable.

UK has been taken, because, though euthanasia is illegal in UK but the laws have been recently challenged by the case of Tony Nicklinson, who has been suffering from the locked in syndrome following a massive stroke and is paralysed from neck down and therefore has filed for a legal action by the doctors to lawfully end his miserable and intolerable life.

His case raises a question of great social and ethical significance. [5] 

The report further analyses some of the cases of these countries which demanded passive euthanasia but were discarded and the consequence was nothing but pain, suffering, loss of money, time and ultimately death.

USA: Active euthanasia is completely illegal in USA, while passive euthanasia or assisted suicide is legalised in 3 states of USA and that is, the state of Oregon, Washington and Montana.

The state of Oregon had a law since 1994, which was implemented in 1998 and since then 341 patients in the vegetative state have been put to death painlessly by passive euthanasia.

Passed on Nov. 4, 2008, the Washington death with dignity act, initiative 1000, codified as RCW- 70.245, allows terminally ill people to take passive euthanasia.

Other than these states, no states in USA have laws pertaining to Euthanasia.

UK:

In UK, euthanasia is completely illegal under the terms of the suicide act (1961) and a person found to be involved in assisting someone to suicide or so is held to have broken the law and for this, he/she can be punished for the same under the UK law.

The punishment for the same is a 14 years of imprisonment.

Between 2003 and 2006, four attempts were made by Lord Joffe to legalise voluntary euthanasia, but they were all rejected by the UK parliament. The only British, found to be convicted of the assisted suicide was Dr. Nigel Cox, who was given a 12 month suspended sentence in the year 1992.

India:

In India, Passive Euthanasia has been legalised, by the path breaking judgement passed by Justice Markandey Katju and Gyan Sudha Mishra in the Aruna Shanbaug case, where Ms. Aruna was in a persistent vegetative state since the past 37 years after she was sexually assaulted by a sweeper.

This case involves the deletion of the section- 309 of the Indian Penal Code, as it has become anachronistic.

Cases that demanded passive euthanasia, but were discarded:

In India and abroad, there have been cases, which have demanded passive euthanasia earlier also, but were denied and consequently, they lost their life in a span of few days. Some of these kinds of cases are:

Case of England: March 1993:

In the Hillsborough football stadium stampede, Anthony Bland suffered a severe brain damage and as a result, ended up into a persistent vegetative state. After 3 years of treatment, it was allowed by the court to remove the life supporting system from him and thereby he was put to death. This was one of the 1st British cases, which was allowed to be given passive euthanasia.

Case of the United States:

It was in 1983, that Nancy Cruzan of Missouri faced a major car accident and as a result entered into a permanent vegetative state. She was then fed through a surgically implanted gastronomy tube and almost after 8 years of prolonged sufferings, it was allowed to remove the life support system and she was dead after 2 hours of the removal of the life support system.

Cases in India [6] :

Case dated December 18, 2004;

K.Venkatesh, a young chess player who suffered severe muscular dystrophy, had requested for passive euthanasia in the Andhra Pradesh High Court, but he was denied for the same and unfortunately, he died just after 2 days of the rejection of the plea by the court.

Case dated November 2008;

A 30 year old slag picker from Jamshedpur, Jharkhand, who was severely paralysed, due to an accident wrote to the President and pleaded for passive euthanasia, but his plea was denied and he died later within some days of rejection of the plea.

These are some of the cases, which left behind the curiosity and debate about the "right to die" in the minds of people throughout the world and there was a quest in every one’s mind to answer the question that- "why should one legalize euthanasia?" "What is the need of euthanasia?"

"Why should passive euthanasia be legalised?"

Ethics: every individual’s right to chose to die should be respected and honoured, because, it is morally incorrect to keep a person suffering both mentally and physically for a long time, from such a disease which is incurable. Also, when the patient has entered into a persistent vegetative state and cannot recover from that, it is advisable to end the life of that person according to his or her will and in such cases, euthanasia is justifiable.

Economic point of view: time and money are both very important for everyone and in a country like India, it is more important.

When a person enters a permanent vegetative state, from which he/she cannot be recovered, or if the person is suffering from a fatal disease, which cannot be cured, then it is only the loss of time and money on that patient because he / she is half dead.

For e.g. in case of Aruna, it was for a long 37 years, that money was spent on her but she never recovered, neither did she walk, nor did she utter a word. Thus, it was only a loss of time and money.

Euthanasia: An Indian case perspective:

In case of India, a phenomenon called as "Thalaikoothal" [7] (meaning killing of the elderly), a form of "involuntary euthanasia" has been practiced since a long time in the southern districts of TamilNadu, where the family members themselves kill the elderly person in their family, when they find them as burden. In some cases the elderly family members are informed prior to the occurrence of the phenomenon. This act is characterised by – an extensive oil bath early in the morning followed by drinking of glasses of tender coconut water, resulting into renal failure, high fever, fits and death within two days.

This practice is however illegal in India and this act of thalaikoothal came into light when an "eighty year old man somehow managed to escape out of it and save his life, when he came to know about the plan his family members had to kill him and then share the piece of land."

Aruna Shanbaug case: Landmark in the Indian history of Euthanasia:

Aruna Shanbaug is a former nurse from Haldipur, Uttar Kannada, and Karnataka. She was working as a junior nurse at the King Edward Memorial Hospital, Parel, Mumbai.

It was in 1973, when, while working at the hospital, she was sexually assaulted by a sweeper named Sohanlal Bhartha Walmiki. It is since then (37 years) that, she is in the vegetative state, without any movement or without speaking a word. She is just a dead skeleton. Nurses in the hospital take care of everything that Aruna wants. They change her diaper, feed her, clean her and even she is calmed by them, when she feels restless. The doctors have described her condition as semi comatose and vegetative.

Seeing to her vegetative state and unresponsive condition, Pinky Virani, a journalist, was the first one to file a petition for euthanasia for Aruna in the Supreme Court. She has also written a book, which talks about the woman, who is being forced to live her life. However, though Ms Pinky Virani was praised by the Supreme Court for her deep concern for Ms Aruna but the petition was ruled out saying that, her relationship with Aruna does not give her the right to file petition for euthanasia for Ms Shanbaug. According to the Supreme Court, it was only the hospital staffs that have the right to file petition for Ms Shanbaug’s euthanasia.

It is now after 37 years of suffering that Ms. Shanbaug has been allowed for euthanasia and her case has proved to be one of the landmark cases in the Indian history and thereby changing India’s approach to the controversial issue of euthanasia. Thus, now passive euthanasia is allowed upon certain circumstances. So, the right to withhold the medical treatment or take a patient off the ventilator, for e.g. – in case of irreversible coma; can be argued upon by the Indians in the court upon some cases.

This judgement given by Supreme Court clarifies that- "passive euthanasia can be given in cases, where the patient is in a permanent vegetative state or terminally ill."

However, there might be some negative aspects of euthanasia too.

Some thinkers have also put forth the idea that, if euthanasia is legalised and it is abused and mis-utilised by some people for their own benefit, this can be harmful.

Some people might also question, that, why euthanasia is given only in case where the consent of the patient is available and why not in cases where consent is not available. Thus there might be several other negative aspects too but in cases like that of Aruna, passive euthanasia is justifiable.

CONCLUSION:

There might be some negative aspects of euthanasia, but the case studies as done above implies that passive euthanasia has been legalised over a period of time in each country given the miserable, demeaning, dull and intolerable life of the patient.

In such cases, where the life becomes intolerable and miserable, full of nothing but pain and suffering, euthanasia should be allowed with the concern of the person, for e.g. in case of Aruna Shanbaug, passive euthanasia is justifiable, as such cases raise questions of great social, ethical and economical significance.

As of now passive euthanasia has been legalised in USA and India but as far as the case of Tony Nicklinson is considered, it is assumed that it will lead to a beginning of a new era with the legalising of passive euthanasia in UK.