연명치료 중단의 허부 및 허용요건

This paper discusses the Supreme Court’s case decision on whether to recognize the right of an incompetent patient to refuse life-sustaining treatment patient in the state of a coma and defines the standards for determining such a request based on interpretations of current law. The majority opinion of the cases which a patient has entered into a phase of inevitable death and is unable to recover from such a state was possible recognition of the right of the patient to refuse life-sustaining treatment. This specifically refers that the patient’s condition must be in a state of unconsciousness with unrecoverable vital functions of the body and the death of the patient is regarded as clearly evident based on the physical state of the patient. When this is the case, unlike legal suicide, upholding the refusal of life-sustaining treatment is possible, and in reaching this decision, objective determination of the patient’s intent through procedural standards is necessary. Also, patient’s prognosis as to the state of inevitable death must be determined by considering diagnosis of medical specialist with that of the attending physician. The Court, in deciding this case, took medical diagnosis of physicians and other medical specialists into account for determining the patient’s prognosis of recovery. Relying on the statements of plaintiff’s family members, the Court applied the procedural standards and inferred the plaintiff’s intent to refuse life-sustaining treatment and upheld the lower court’s decision. The decision of the Supreme Court recognizing an unconscious patient’s right to refuse life-sustaining treatment is the first of its kind and provides basic standards in determining of refusal of such a treatment under the current law. Yet the scope of the decision does not include the issues involving the right to refuse life-sustaining treatment, the relation of self-determination of competent patients and the right to life, refusing treatment on behalf of never-competent persons such as infants, procedural standards for determination of refusal of treatment rights and others related topics. Further societal discussions on these issues and others need to be held on a continuous basis.