연명의료결정법이 지닌 한계와 개선방안에 대한 연구 = A Study on the Limitations and Alternatives of the Life-Sustaining Treatment Decision Act

다국어 초록 (Multilingual Abstract)

The purpose of this study is to find out the limitations and alternatives of Life-Sustaining Treatment Decision Act(LSTDA) in Korea. With the remarkable development of medical technology, the life expectancy is currently approaching 90. Extended human lifespan, however, does not mean that they will live a long with the healthy life. Human being is bound to deteriorate with aging. As a result, the probability of exposure to various chronic diseases increases as the age increases. The Life-Sustaining Treatment Decision Act gives people the authority to make their own decisions about their lives in the situation of terminally ill, so that they can die while maintaining dignity as humans. Therefore, it might be said that terminally ill patient can be guaranteed by LSTDA having a right to self-determination under the constitution. The LSTDA, which took effect in 2018, is most meaningful in that humans are guaranteed the right to die with dignity. In the case of life-sustaining treatment suspension, only special life-sustaining treatment suspension is included among the areas related to life-sustaining treatment, and general life-sustaining treatment is excluded from the scope of suspension, so the current life-sustaining treatment decision law differs from the original purpose of allowing life-sustaining treatment. In addition, the suspension of life-sustaining treatment for patients without life-sustaining treatment is also treated as an exception. The increase in the number of elderly people living alone and the number of patients without life-sustaining treatment in Korean society, which has entered an aging society, is easily expected. Legislative supplementation on these areas is needed, and prior to this, it will be necessary to diversify the methods of providing information on life-sustaining treatment decisions and to expand registration institutions for advance letter of intent to strengthen preventive activities for age groups that are likely to be classified as patients without life-sustaining treatment in the future.