The number of cases in which "life-sustaining treatment," a medical act to prolong the life of a patient with no prospect of recovery, was withheld (not initiated) or withdrawn has exceeded a cumulative 500,000.
According to the National Agency for Management of Life-Sustaining Treatment on the 26th, the number of cases in which life-sustaining treatment was withheld or withdrawn for patients in the dying process last month totaled 7,882. As of the end of last month, the cumulative total reached 500,622, surpassing 500,000 about eight years after the Life-Sustaining Treatment Decision System was implemented in 2018.
By sex, there were 292,381 men, more than the 208,241 women. By region, Seoul accounted for the largest share at 32.7%, followed by Gyeonggi at 19.4%. The greater Seoul area made up more than half of the total.
Life-sustaining treatment refers to medical acts for patients in the dying process that aim only to prolong life without therapeutic effect, such as cardiopulmonary resuscitation, hemodialysis, chemotherapy, and mechanical ventilation.
Decisions to withhold or withdraw life-sustaining treatment are divided between cases based on an advance directive and a life-sustaining treatment plan that reflect the patient's wishes, and cases in which the family or a legal guardian decides on behalf of a patient who cannot express intentions.
Looking at cumulative cases by decision method, decisions based on statements by the patient's family numbered 159,852 (31.9%); those based on a life-sustaining treatment plan, 159,658 (31.9%); those based on the intentions of a legal guardian and the patient's family, 120,501 (24.1%); and those based on an advance directive, 60,611 (12.1%).
The share of decisions made through family and others is higher than those based on the patient's explicit wishes. However, the proportion of "respect for self-determination" based on life-sustaining treatment plans and advance directives has been expanding in recent years, surpassing half.