The 10th meeting of the 7th National People’s Congress NPC Standing Committee of Shenzhen recently voted to pass the revised medical regulations of Shenzhen Special Economic Zone in South China’s Guangdong Province. Among them, the “living will” clause in the newly revised medical regulations has aroused public concern.
According to the amended law, if a patient doesn’t want the medical staff to “perform unnecessary resuscitation,” the hospital should respect the patient’s wishes and allow the patient to die peacefully. Shenzhen has now become the first area in the Chinese mainland to implement the legislation of “living will,” also known elsewhere as DNR order, after only the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region and the islands of Taiwan had passed similar resolutions.
When patients enter their final stage of life, they may undergo unnecessary suffering while rescue and resuscitation efforts are carried on. With the introduction of the DNR order, a dilemma that has long plagued dying patients and their families will finally be solved.
According to the regulation, a “living will” or DNR order is a document that a person signs in advance, while conscious and aware, specifying what kind of medical care he or she wants or does not want at the end of an incurable illness.
Observers noted that it is a major breakthrough in China’s medical legislation and will help promote the concept of “dying with dignity” in society.
On Monday, the hashtag “Shenzhen’s legislation respects patients’ right to make end-of-life decisions” went viral on Chinese social media platforms, with many netizens expressing support for the move and saying it is worth promoting.
“Some patients are in such pain at the end of their lives, it is good to respect their final choice,” one netizen said. “The words ‘dignity of life’ has a profound meaning, lingering on in a gradually and irreversibly worsening condition may not always the best choice,” another netizen commented.
However, some netizens questioned the idea, saying that if the system is not perfect enough, it could be taken advantage of by some people with evil intentions.
According to the Xiaoxiang Morning Herald, before the “living will” was written into the local law of Shenzhen, there have been other attempts in the Chinese mainland. Yin Huiming, a 70-year-old retired teacher, signed a living will at a geriatric hospital in Jiangsu Province that allows patients to decide how they want to be treated at the end of their life. After talking with the director and the doctor, Yin held a meeting with her family and signed the living will with her friends, relatives and doctors around her.
Despite these kinds of precedents, many people still have a lot of concerns about the law. Li Ying, the president of the Promotion Association of Living Will of Shenzhen, suggested that adults who have capacity for civil conduct can sign the living will, preferably in a conscious and relaxed state, with family, friends, a doctor or a lawyer or related people around so they can discuss, understand the situation better and then make a decision. Two witnesses are required to sign the document.
Experts explained that the living will is intended for palliative care patients only, and palliative care, by definition, is used at the end of an incurable illness, when the patient’s condition is irreversible even with the use of the most advanced modern medicine available.
Admission to palliative care is subject to strict criteria and requires assessment by at least two medical practitioners. The hospital will never give up the treatment and rescue of patients with treatable acute medical conditions, such as acute myocardial infarction, cerebral hemorrhage and tumor patients.
In addition, it is worth noting that living wills can be changed at any time, even at the very end of life.
Shenzhen Photo: VCG
