Living will registration stirs dignified death debate

CHINA | Xinhua News Agency – 1 August 2013 – A newly-established association advocating living will registration has triggered debate on death with dignity, with many hoping the organization can help preserve patients’ rights in terms of receiving life-prolonging treatments. The Beijing Living Will Promotion Association, approved by the Beijing Civil Affairs Bureau, gathered more than 20 medical experts to discuss the necessity of living wills and how to promote the idea of death with dignity in China. There are no clinical regulations to define when doctors should stop carrying out treatment after patients enter an unconscious state, even if they have agreed to give up treatment previously in a living will…read more

An article from Media Watch, compiled and annotated by Barry R. Ashpole (Ontario, Canada). More reports can be found at IPCRC.NET