안락사 기준에 관한 국제 비교 연구*

Background : The rapid development of biomedical engineering and medical technology has given us a lot of changes not only on our social environment but also on life itself. Even though legislation of Organ Transplantation Law expanded the discussion on life and death, still the academic discussion on euthanasia has been often prohibited in Korea.

Objectives : This study was performed (I) to identify the ethical standard in laws on euthanasia at other countries such as Netherlands, Australia, and the United States. (2) to understand the current status on euthanasia and its ethical implications in Korea, (3) to search the justified type of euthanasia in the ethical point of views, and finally (4) to suggest the ethical guideline on euthanasia in Korean situation.

Methods : In order to understand the current status on euthanasia in Korea, the survey was conducted to the attending physicians of 42 patients who died from August 1st to August 31st in 1995 at one of university hospitals in Korea. The survey consisted of two parts: general questions on euthanasia and specific questions on the hypothetical situations.

Results : Most of the physicians did not have a clear understanding on euthanasia and even gave conflict answers. Also, their answers were based not on the ethical reasoning but on the difficulties in medical practice. However, the study showed that they all experience the ethical dilemma in medical practice with euthanasia and terminally ill patients.

Conclusion : Overall study shows the actual need to establish the ethical guideline on euthanasia to give the physicians the practical solutions on their ethical dilemma. Therefore, we suggests the ethical guideline on euthanasia which can be effective on the Korean situation.