Nurses, midwives join right to die call BANGKOK POST Issued date 15 September 2011 APIRADEE TREERUTKUARKUL A network of nurses and midwives has teamed up with the National Health Commission to push for “right to die”laws to be put into practice and train nurses in treating patients who are nearing the ends of their lives. The move comes as the Medical Council of Thailand, which has not been supportive of the regulation, pushes on with its attempt to define “the end stage of life”. The NHC yesterday signed a memorandum of understanding with the Thailand Nursing and Midwifery Council,the Nurses Association of Thailand ad a network of nursing schools nationwide to include palliative care (which aims to relieve and prevent suffering of patients),into nursing study programmes.
The aim of the MoU is to develop palliative nursing skills and instill awareness among nurses about living wills,which are essentially instructions on the treatment which terminal patients wish to receive or not receive once they are nearing death and are no longer capable of making decisions on their own. NHC president Wijit Srisuphan said clinical nursing practice guidelines that include right to die provisions would also be developed in accordance with Section 12 of the National Health Act. Under the “right to die” clause in the Health Act, patients can notify their doctor if they do not want to receive further treatment that may extend their lives. A living will must be signed before witnesses and close relatives. As part of the process, a doctor is required to provide a thorough assessment to the patient regarding their health condition.
But many doctors disagree with this regulation because they fear being held liable if they are obliged to “pull the plug” on a patient. They also oppose an aspect of the law which they believe would pass the burden of ending a patient’s life directly and indirectly to doctors. Amphon Jindawatana, NHC secretarygeneral, said the agency’s mission to put the living will into practice would continue even though some doctors disagreed with the law.
 Meanwhile, the Medical Council of Thailand has set up a subcommittee to work on the definition of the end stage of life, according to Amnat Kusalanant,president of the Medical Council of Thailand. Doctors from medical schools and legal experts will meet next month to discuss whether the definition of the end stage of life in health regulations should be amended.