The Study on the Death with Dignity of Patients in Persistent Vegetative State-Focus on the Living Will and its Legislation

• Main Authors: HU,KAI-LING, 胡凱玲
• Other Authors: KUO,CHUN-LIN
• Format: Others
• Language: zh-TW
• Published: 2016
• Online Access: http://ndltd.ncl.edu.tw/handle/c455hs

碩士 === 南臺科技大學 === 財經法律研究所 === 104 === To respect and guarantee the medical treatment will of Terminal Patients, Taiwan passed legislation for Hospice Palliative Care Act, on May 23, 2000.Which gives the patients, their families and doctors the rights to follow and choose the medical treatment for Terminal Patients. This regulation has a relatively strict definition of the Terminal Patients, therefore it limits the applicable objects. However in Taiwan society, there are many severe patients and their families who have been suffering continuously like the Terminal Patients, but their conditions do not belong to the Terminal Patients defined in this regulation. For example, patients in Persistent Vegetative State which has attracted social attention for a long time, are not the applicable object. With the development of the human rights issue and the attention to the autonomy, it is debated that whether patients in Persistent Vegetative State has the right to choose Death with Dignity. Therefore, this article is to explore the possible development space and legislation direction of patients in Persistent Vegetative State from social disputes. This article adopts the document analysis to clarify the concepts of Euthanasia and Death with Dignity, explores the theory and controversy on the Death with Dignity of patients in Persistent Vegetative State from three aspects, Medical ethics thought, legal evaluation and social legalization opinion, and then analyzes the legislation evolution and operation mode of Hospice Palliative Care Act, as well as discusses operation ideas in academic areas to current regulations. At the same time, this article adopts comparative method to compare the contents of domestic and foreign Euthanasia laws and probes the connotation of judicial decisions to patients in Persistent Vegetative State. The conclusion explored from those controversies suggests that the position of protecting their autonomy and practicable to legislate Death with Dignity for patients in Persistent Vegetative State from the direction of Living Will. Therefore, this article proposes legislative elements according to the direction and materializes the legislation of Death with Dignity of patients in Persistent Vegetative State. This article also recommend relevant measures to make sure a successful effect of the Death with Dignity. We found that the Death with Dignity for legislation does have its importance. so as to hope a reference for including Persistent Vegetative State in the applicable objects of Hospice Palliative Care Act, to safeguard the autonomy and the right to life for patients in Persistent Vegetative State.