Earticle

초록

영어

Is it lawful to withhold or withdraw life-sustaining treatment applied to a patient in a terminal condition or permanent unconscious condition? In Korea, there are no such laws or regulations which control affairs related to the withholding or withdrawal life-support treatment and active euthanasia as the Natural Death Act or the Death with Dignity Act in the U. S. A. And in addition there has had no precedent of Supreme Court. Recently Supreme Court has pronounced a historical judgment on a terminal care case. The court allowed the withdrawal life-sustaining treatment from a patient in a permanent unconscious state. Fundamentally the court judged that the continuation of that medical treatment would infringe dignity and value of a patient as a human being. And the court required some legal grounds to consider such withdrawal or withholding of medical care lawful. The legal grounds are as follow. First, the patient is in a incurable and irreversible condition and already entered a stage of death. Second, the patient executed a directive in advance or at least the patient's will would be presumed through his/her character, view of value, philosophy, religious faith and career etc. I regard if a patient is in a incurable and irreversible condition or in a terminal condition, the medical contract between a patient and a doctor would be terminated because of the actual impossibility of achievement of it's purpose. So I think the discontinuation of life-sustaining care would be legally allowed without depending on the patient's own will.

목차

I. 서론
 II. 사실개요
 III. 대법원 판결 중 다수견해의 요지와 논리
  1. 다수 견해의 요지
  2. 다수 견해의 논리
 IV. 대법원 판결 중 소수견해의 요지와 논리
  1. 연명의료 중단의 요건이 미비하다는 의견(소수견해 I)
  2. 연명의료의 적극적 중단을 반대하는 의견(소수견해 II)
 V. 대법원 판결의 타당성(관견)
  1. 인간의 존엄성과 의료 부작위의 허용성
  2. 연명의료 부작위의 적법성 근거
  3. 판단의 주체
 VI. 외국의 입법례
 VII. 결론
 ABSTRACT

키워드

연명의료 연명치료 중단 존엄사 안락사 자연사 추정적 의사 묵시적 의사 사전의료지시서 withholding or withdrawal of life-sustaining treatment euthanasia death with dignity natural death health care directive presumption of intention.

저자

• 석희태 [ Heetae Suk | 경기대학교 법과대학 교수, 법학박사 ]

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