Since the Beijing Living Will Promotion Association was launched in June, it has seen more than 9,000 people register at the living will registration centre on the association’s website.
As reported by Chinese news agency, Xinhua, there is hope within China that the organisation can preserve the rights of patients receiving life-prolonging treatments, but many have expressed concern that living wills could lead to doctors’ inactive treatment of patients.
It has also been highlighted that there are no clinical regulations to define when doctors should stop carrying out treatment after patients enter an unconscious state, even if they have agreed to give up treatment previously in a living will.
In addition, laws or regulations have never been created to protect patients’ living wills in China. This oversight has the potential to lead to doctor-patient disputes, according to experts.
To register for a living will with the association, registrants have to answer questions such as whether he or she would accept cardiac resuscitation. But according to Hao Xinping, the secretary general of the association: “Applicants can alter their wills at any time.”
Gu Jin, an expert of the Chinese Medical Association Professional Committee of Tumors, added: “Specific medical standards, relevant laws and people’s acceptance are needed to promote living will registration.”
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