"A Japanese Translation of the General Medical Council's Guidance on 'Withholding and Withdrawing Life-prolonging Treatments: Good Practice in Decision Making'"
MATOBA Kazuko, HOTTA Yoshitaro, ARIYOSHI Reiko & SUEOKA Yoko
last update: 20151224
A Japanese Translation of the General Medical Council's Guidance on "Withholding and Withdrawing Life-prolonging Treatments: Good Practice in Decision Making"
MATOBA Kazuko, HOTTA Yoshitaro, ARIYOSHI Reiko & SUEOKA Yoko
Abstract:
The General Medical Council (GMC) is an association which registers doctors for practise medicine in the
UK. Its purpose is to protect, promote and maintain the health and safety of the public by ensuring proper
standards in the practice of medicine. It also has the statutory role of providing guidance on medical ethics
through the guidance such as "Withholding and Withdrawing Life-prolonging Treatments: Good Practice in
Decision-making," which was published in 2002. A British man complained about a part of the guidance and
sought a judicial review regarding whether the guidance breaches his right under Common law and the
European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights.
In this paper, first we translate into Japanese the part of the guidance that was examined in the Court.
Next, we try to translate the meaning of the guidance into our own words. We believe that the basic
philosophy from which this guidance has emerged should be identical to the philosophy of life and death of the
society to which it belongs.
Keywords: Withholding and withdrawing life-sustaining treatment, End- of-life Care, Medical Guidance
REV: 20151224