On The Institution Of Living Will And The Proposal Of Its Legislation In China

Living will is one form of advance health care directive, in which a person clearly specifies what actions to be taken for their health at the end of their incurable illness or death. This conception originates from dignity death in public discussion. As an appropriate type of medical will, living will is different from but related to, advance health care directive and mandatory advance health care directive. Living will protects the right of informed consent for the dying individual who is incapable of expressing themselves, which demonstrates humanism and facilitates proper allocation of medical resources, so it can meet the requirement of modern medical ethics. Dating back to 1970 s, it has the legal validity in a series of legal document in U.S.A., European countries, such as German, Austria, the U.K., and in Asian countries?regions?, such as Singapore, Hong Kong, China, Taiwan, China.Living will is a new notion in China and it is totally blank in legislation. Therefore, it does not have any legal validity. So far, Living Will Promotion Association(LWPA) has been dedicated to the popularization of living will, which is recognized by individuals in both medical and legal field. Besides, the deputy to the National People?s Congress and CPPCC members advocate living will to be taken into account in legislation. Some public hospitals also commence to the phase of ?Exploration and Practice of Living Will?. However, because of the shackle of inherent value of life and death, and filial piety, the imbalanced development of medical level, as well as the backward development of theory research, it is difficult to facilitate living will in China. Therefore, it is essential to strengthen the education of death to change people?s value towards life and death, and to promote moderate medical treatment as a new option for individuals of living will. Because of the realistic medical environment, the legislation for living will needs time and has a long way to go in China. Thus, regarding the legislation for living will, five aspects should be taken into consideration, namely, formation, effect, preservation, revocation and tort liability?...