Euthanasia for nine year old: We have to be careful before passing orders, Madras HC

While mulling over a plea made to allow euthanasia for a nine year old child suffering from congenital brain damage, the Madras High Court has directed that a report be filed on the child’s condition in three weeks..The plea has been made on behalf of Paavendhan, who was diagnosed with Hypoxic Ischemic Encephalopathy (HIE) soon after his birth in November 2008. HIE is a form of brain damage which results when an infant’s brain does not receive sufficient oxygen and blood..Counsel for the petitioner. Advocate N Kavitha Rameshwar today suggested that the expert panel tasked to examine the child file a report on two aspects to aid the Court in discerning whether euthanasia could be allowed for Paveendhan, i.e..Whether Paveendhan is in a Permanent Vegetative State (PVS)Whether the PVS is reversible.As per the petition moved by Paveendhan’s father, Cuddalore-based R Thirumeni, various doctors had informed him that his son’s condition is irreversible..On account of his HIE, Thirumeni informed the Court that Paveendhan suffers 10 to 20 uncontrolled epileptic attacks everyday. Besides this, he suffers from complete motor disability, and has been in a stage of awareness-devoid wakefulness since birth..The plea was admitted last month by a Bench of Justices N Kirubakaran and S Baskaran..While making submissions today, Advocate Rameshwar also emphasised it is not the financial constraints involved in taking care of the child which prompted his father to approach the Court with the euthanasia plea. She asserted that the petitioner would have gone to any extent to help his child, had there been any possibility for treatment..The petition was moved by Thirumeni only to smoothen the process of his son’s death and to ensure dignity for Paveendhan in life and death..Additionally, Advocate Rameshwar also suggested that the Court pass general directions to ensure that there are palliative care homes for those in a permanent vegetative state. She informed that at present, there are no such care centres for those in a vegetative state..“Wherever you go, they say, come with an attendant.“.As for the treatment meted out to those in a vegetative state, she raised concern that sometimes such patients are treated worse than animals, since they are unable to speak for themselves..While passing directions, the Court has also queried whether there are hospitals or NGOs which would take in the child. It was noted that in this case, the child is not brain dead..Unlike in cases of brain death, the respiratory and breathing processes of a person in PVS would continue to take place involuntarily without external intervention..Whereas Advocate Rameshwar explained that the case would be fit for euthanasia once it is found that there is no scope of recovery for the child, Justice Kirubakaran remarked that the Court would have to examine all aspects before deciding on the case..“We cannot simply pass the orders … We have to be careful … It will be prickling our conscience [otherwise]…”.If the plea is allowed, it could become the first recorded instance of allowing euthanasia for a child in India..It was only last March that the Supreme Court ruled that the Right to Life under Article 21 includes the right to live with dignity and the same includes the smoothening of the process of dying in case of a terminally ill patient or a person in a persistent vegetative state with no hope of recovery.