By Jung Min-ho
How much pain would you endure in order to stay alive if you had an incurable illness and no prospect of leaving hospital?
With the National Assembly passing the "well-dying" bill, from 2018 patients with no hope of recovery will be able to end their lives by refusing life-sustaining treatment.
If a patient in possession of his or her mental faculties wishes to die like this, doctors can stop treatment such as chemotherapy, mechanical ventilation, blood dialysis and CPR.
The law also applies to patients who have not expressed such a wish, if all members of their families agree.
If a patient has no family, the hospital's bioethics committee can decide.
At least two doctors must confirm that the patient's condition is incurable before stopping life-sustaining treatment.
"Well-dying" is different from euthanasia, or doctor-assisted dying, which allows for medication that will kill terminal patients.
"The law is expected to allow patients to end their lives with dignity," said Rep. Kim Choon-jin of the main opposition Minjoo Party of Korea, who led the legislation. "Also, the law will reduce the nation's medical costs for unnecessary life-sustaining treatment."
Calls for passing the bill have grown over the years. Supporters believe that too many people die in hospitals against their will after enduring excruciating pain and burdening their families financially.
According to a survey by the Korea Institute for Health and Social Affairs last year, 88.9 percent of all Koreans aged 65 or older said they did not want to receive treatment to live longer if they knew their medical condition could never be cured.
In reality, however, most patients with incurable conditions end their lives in pain, hooked to machines and surrounded by strangers.
According to the National Health Insurance Service, more than 97 percent of terminally-ill cancer patients die while receiving medical treatment.
The new law is expected to encourage doctors and patients to talk more openly about end-of-life decisions. Under the law, patients can write orders for their physicians about life-sustaining treatment or give advanced directives.
Debate on "well-dying" began in 1997 after a doctor released a dying patient from hospital at the family's request. They later faced murder charges.
The debate was rekindled in 2008 when a patient's family sued Yonsei Severance Hospital, demanding that it stop treating the patient, who was in a coma. In 2009, the Supreme Court ruled in favor of the family, saying she had the right to end life with dignity.
This sparked a national debate. In 2010, a committee was formed composed of religious, medical and legal figures, but it failed to agree on anything. In 2012, the Presidential National Bioethics Committee recommended that the health ministry create the legal groundwork for passive euthanasia.
How much pain would you endure in order to stay alive if you had an incurable illness and no prospect of leaving hospital?
With the National Assembly passing the "well-dying" bill, from 2018 patients with no hope of recovery will be able to end their lives by refusing life-sustaining treatment.
If a patient in possession of his or her mental faculties wishes to die like this, doctors can stop treatment such as chemotherapy, mechanical ventilation, blood dialysis and CPR.
The law also applies to patients who have not expressed such a wish, if all members of their families agree.
If a patient has no family, the hospital's bioethics committee can decide.
At least two doctors must confirm that the patient's condition is incurable before stopping life-sustaining treatment.
"Well-dying" is different from euthanasia, or doctor-assisted dying, which allows for medication that will kill terminal patients.
"The law is expected to allow patients to end their lives with dignity," said Rep. Kim Choon-jin of the main opposition Minjoo Party of Korea, who led the legislation. "Also, the law will reduce the nation's medical costs for unnecessary life-sustaining treatment."
Calls for passing the bill have grown over the years. Supporters believe that too many people die in hospitals against their will after enduring excruciating pain and burdening their families financially.
According to a survey by the Korea Institute for Health and Social Affairs last year, 88.9 percent of all Koreans aged 65 or older said they did not want to receive treatment to live longer if they knew their medical condition could never be cured.
In reality, however, most patients with incurable conditions end their lives in pain, hooked to machines and surrounded by strangers.
According to the National Health Insurance Service, more than 97 percent of terminally-ill cancer patients die while receiving medical treatment.
The new law is expected to encourage doctors and patients to talk more openly about end-of-life decisions. Under the law, patients can write orders for their physicians about life-sustaining treatment or give advanced directives.
Debate on "well-dying" began in 1997 after a doctor released a dying patient from hospital at the family's request. They later faced murder charges.
The debate was rekindled in 2008 when a patient's family sued Yonsei Severance Hospital, demanding that it stop treating the patient, who was in a coma. In 2009, the Supreme Court ruled in favor of the family, saying she had the right to end life with dignity.
This sparked a national debate. In 2010, a committee was formed composed of religious, medical and legal figures, but it failed to agree on anything. In 2012, the Presidential National Bioethics Committee recommended that the health ministry create the legal groundwork for passive euthanasia.
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