非末期病人拒絕維生醫療之權利

Abstract

安寧緩和醫療條例為我國關於實施維生醫療之主要規範，惟因安寧緩和醫療條例中明文限縮唯有末期病人始得簽署意願書作維生醫療抉擇，無非造成非末期而倚賴維生醫療之病人，解釋上即無權自主決定作維生醫療抉擇。為確保立法良善目的之實現，本文蒐集國內外相關經驗、司法判決及學者專家之意見，探討關於非末期病人而倚賴維生醫療者究竟是否適法有權作維生醫療抉擇，以及為避免權利遭致濫用之限制條件。綜析研究結果，本文進一步對於維生醫療之相關配套制度提出修法建議，例如建立監督機制，期盼任何人均能夠在生命臨終之際得到真正的尊嚴及安寧。

Hospice Palliative Care Act (hereinafter referred to as the Act) is the main regulation of life-sustaining treatments in Taiwan. While the Act narrowed the applicable subjects’ scope to terminal illness patients, it excluded the patients who suffered from non-terminal illness from the right to refuse life-sustaining treatments. To ensure the purpose of the Act comes into effect, the thesis discusses other countries’ legislation, legal judgments, and scholars' opinions on whether non-terminal illness patients who relied on life-sustaining treatment should be able to decide on receiving or refusing life-sustaining treatments, and limitations on the rights to avoid abuse. Based on the analysis, the thesis recommends the legislators to establish the supporting measures, such as the supervision system, in hopes of helping everyone embrace real peace and dignity during last days of life.