The health ministry has formulated a guideline on terminal care stipulating that respect for patients' wishes is "the most important principle" when carrying out medical treatment for those in the terminal stage. The guideline, aimed at preventing single-handed decisions by doctors, is the first government guideline on such care. As such, it marks an important first step.
By setting down the procedure for determining terminal-care policy, the guideline is expected to help doctors, nurses, patients and their families decide on the kind of care that should be pursued for the patients.
But the guideline does not touch upon issues such as the conditions under which doctors may remove respirators from patients or the specific circumstances under which doctors can end treatment to prolong patients' lives without facing murder charges later. Doctors and nurses actually involved in the treatment of terminal-stage patients may continue to feel uneasy in the absence of clear guidelines on these matters. The ministry should tackle these issues in earnest.