Karnataka Health Department issues order to implement Supreme Court directive allowing terminally-ill patients to die with dignity

Karnataka Health Department implements Supreme Court ruling allowing terminally-ill patients to die with dignity, also comes out with Advance Medical Directive (AMD), or a ‘living will’,

In a historic move, the Karnataka Health Department on January 30, 2025, issued an order to implement the Supreme Court’s ruling allowing terminally-ill patients to die with dignity. Karnataka is the second State after Kerala to implement this Supreme Court directive.

This will immensely benefit those with no hope of recovery or those who are in a persistent vegetative state and where the patient no longer benefits from life-sustaining treatment, said Health Minister Dinesh Gundu Rao.

On January 24, 2023, the Supreme Court in its judgement said that the right to life guaranteed under Article 21 of the Constitution encompassed the right to die with dignity. 

“To enable a dignified death, the Supreme Court has held that life-sustaining treatment may be withheld or withdrawn where the patient is terminally-ill with no hope of recovery, or is in a persistent vegetative state, and where the patient no longer benefits from life-sustaining treatment,” the order said.

The Supreme Court had stated that it would be appropriate to withhold or withdraw life-sustaining treatment for terminally-ill patients, undergoing prolonged medical treatment with no hope of recovery and cure of the ailment.

“This may be the case for those who are in a persistent vegetative state and when certain kinds of medical treatment may no longer provide any reasonable possibility of benefit, and may instead, have a greater potential to cause harm to the patient,” the Karnataka Health Department’s order said.

“This important step will bring great relief and a dignified sense of closure to many families and individuals,” Mr. Gundu Rao said in a post on X (formerly Twitter).