The Supreme Court on Wednesday allowed passive euthanasia of a 31-year-old man who has been in a coma for over 12 years by withdrawing his artificial life support.
Passive euthanasia is the intentional act of letting a patient die by refusing or withdrawing life support or treatment necessary to sustain their life.
Harish Rana suffered a head injury after falling from the fourth floor of a building in 2013 and has been in a coma for over a decade.
A bench of Justices JB Pardiwala and KV Viswanathan directed the AIIMS to allow Rana to be admitted to palliative care so that the medical treatment could be withdrawn. It must be ensured that she is withdrawn with a tailor-made plan that preserves her dignity, the bench said.
The Supreme Court had previously expressed its wish to meet the parents of the 31-year-old man. She read the report containing Rana’s medical history, submitted by the secondary medical board of doctors at AIIMS-Delhi, and noted that it was a “sad” report.
After examining the patient’s condition, the primary medical board emphasized the negligible chance of his recovery.
On December 11, the Supreme Court stated that, according to the report of the primary medical commission, the man is in a “deplorable state”.
According to the directions issued by the Supreme Court in 2023, a primary and secondary medical committee will have to be formed for expert opinion on withdrawal of artificial life support in a vegetative state patient.
