Lucknow: The right to life entails the right to depart with dignity, a guiding principle that led to formation of end-of-life care (EOLC) standard operating procedure (SOP), with SGPGI’s critical care medicine (CCM) department coming up with a state specific draft.Embracing the ‘mission to provide care and comfort at the end of life’ this EOLC SOP has also been vetted by external experts including Dr RK Mani, chairman, ELiCIT (or EOLC India task force).But this document serves no purpose till the state medical education department issues a formal govt order that translates the thought into action. The draft and its need in the society was deliberated upon at a programme organised by SGPGI’s CCM department on Friday.Additional chief secretary for health and medical education departments, Amit Kumar Ghosh, who attended the brain-storming session, said: “Facing the approaching death of a dear one is painful and shaking. Both doctors and attendants understand that there can be a point of no return. Prolonging this wait not only adds to the agony of the attending kin but also robs the departing soul of their right to go away with dignity.” Dean, Prof Shaleen Kumar said, “There are times when the journey from life to death can be long and complicated. Chronic diseases, organ failures, fatal injuries can plague chances of recovery. The wait for nature to end the story often pushes families into the pit of medical poverty and robs the living attending of their assets and dignity. A mechanism for EOLC can save families, ensure dignified departure of the person while giving a chance to doctors to save the life of someone in waiting”.Earlier, head of CCM, Prof Banani Poddar and her colleague Prof Afzal Azim, who were members of the ELiCIT taskforce and have drafted the SGPGI SOP, elaborated on the document. “This requires ascertaining consensus from the tending physician and two other experts within the organisation that paves way for the stage of foregoing life sustaining treatment,” said Prof Azim.Prof Poddar said: “An additional board including external doctors and experts who would verify the primary board’s decision on medical futility. Once the two agree, decision on withholding or withdrawing life supporting treatment like ventilators, high grade antibiotics is formally taken. Communicating the decision to family follows next and then procedures like death declaration, brain dead and after death protocols take over.“
