Another Seoul hospital adopts guideline on 'death with dignity'

SEOUL, July 7 (Yonhap) -- A second hospital in Seoul said Tuesday it has adopted
a set of guidelines on when life support can be removed from a brain-dead or
terminally ill patient, a sign that South Korea may be opening up to the notion
of "death of dignity."
The guideline approval by Seoul National University Hospital, one of the
country's most widely respected medical facilities, follows a similar action
taken by Yonsei University's Severance Hospital on June 23.
"Death with dignity" was acknowledged for the first time by the nation's Supreme
Court in May when it presided over the case of an elderly woman in a comatose
state. The court determined that continuing treatment just to prolong life
without hope of recovery violates the dignity of an individual.
Seoul National University Hospital's ethics committee determined that doctors can
turn off life support on the basis of prior consent by patients in the terminal
stage of their illness or with the medical evaluation and approval of the
committee, hospital officials said.
One of the clauses allows the hospital to "presume" that the patient would have
wanted to be taken off life support, given his or her beliefs and stated values
or wishes in the past.
Doctors must seek approval of the ethics committee in cases when such tacit
consent cannot be assumed, the officials said.
"The guidelines are not aimed at permitting euthanasia or doctor-assisted
suicide, or at ending the life of the patient under any circumstances," said
Prof. Huh Dae-seok, an official with the hospital.
Huh added they do "encourage (terminally ill) patients to seek out hospices that
may help them face death more peacefully."
The hospital has been accepting letters of consent from terminally ill cancer
patients since mid-May who do not wish to sustain their life via artificial
respirators. Officials said 11 such patients submitted their consent and seven
have died without being put on life support.
brk@yna.co.kr
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