"Stop Removing the Respirator"... Nearly 300,000 People Have Ceased Life-Sustaining Treatment

Advance Directives Reflect 39.2% of Personal Intentions
Remaining Cases Based on Family Statements and Agreements

As the number of people receiving life-sustaining treatment increases every year, a survey has found that the number of patients requesting the discontinuation of life-sustaining treatment is also rising.

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According to the 'Status of the Life-Sustaining Treatment Decision System' data received by Democratic Party lawmaker Seo Young-seok from the Ministry of Health and Welfare, as of the end of July 2023, the number of cases implementing the discontinuation of life-sustaining treatment reached 297,313.

To discontinue life-sustaining treatment, the patient's intention must be confirmed through an advance directive for life-sustaining treatment or a life-sustaining treatment plan. If it is impossible to confirm the patient's intention, the patient's will can be presumed based on statements from two family members or through unanimous agreement of all family members.

As of the end of July this year, cases where life-sustaining treatment was discontinued based on the patient's explicit intention accounted for 39.2% of the total, cases presumed through statements from two family members accounted for 33.9%, and cases implemented through unanimous family agreement accounted for 26.8%.

Additionally, more than 80% of cases where the forms for discontinuing life-sustaining treatment were completed resulted in the immediate implementation of treatment discontinuation on the same day. Since patients who have already completed an advance directive sometimes fill out additional forms to reconfirm their intentions during the terminal stage, even excluding those cases, 80.2% of all cases showed that form completion and treatment discontinuation occurred on the same day.

Regarding life-sustaining treatment plans, which can only be made at medical institutions with an installed Institutional Review Board (IRB), the breakdown by type of medical institution shows that out of a total of 118,474 cases, ▲ tertiary general hospitals (77,642 cases) ▲ general hospitals (38,365 cases) ▲ hospitals (1,566 cases) ▲ nursing hospitals (709 cases) ▲ clinics (192 cases) were the order of form completion.

Accordingly, concerns have been raised that there is a shortage of medical institutions equipped with ethics committees where terminal patients can make life-sustaining treatment decisions, highlighting the need for expansion.

According to the Ministry of Health and Welfare, as of September 2022, the cumulative number of people who completed advance directives for life-sustaining treatment was 1,455,959. However, the number of medical institutions capable of implementing decisions to discontinue life-sustaining treatment was only 420 as of 2023, which is considered grossly insufficient.

Lawmaker Seo stated, "The purpose of the life-sustaining treatment decision system is to prepare for the end of life in the way one desires," and added, "Even though five years have passed since the system was implemented, the reality is that many cases are rushed at the last minute."

He also emphasized, "As many citizens participate in and show interest in the system, it is necessary to review the system as a whole and improve and supplement it to ensure that its original intent and purpose are strictly upheld."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.