‘Terminally ill have fundamental right to palliative care’

In 2018, following the creation of a passive euthanasia mechanism to provide a humane conclusion for individuals in a persistent vegetative state, the SC declared on Thursday that terminally-ill patients in this condition possess a fundamental right to palliative care until their natural demise. The Court requested a detailed report from the Centre regarding the implementation of such measures in government hospitals. During the presentation of the PIL, the petitioner, senior advocate Jayna Kothari, urged the SC to affirm that palliative care constitutes a component of the right to health under Article 21.