The government does not favour bringing in a law on mercy killings, conveys the Union Health and Family

Welfare Ministry to the Ministry of Law & Justice. The Minister said the Hippocratic Oath taken by doctors was against intentional or voluntary killing of a patient. Progression of medical science to relieve pain, suffering, rehabilitation and treatment of so-called incurable diseases would suffer a setback, and an individual might wish to die at a certain point of time but his wish might be only a fleeting desire out of transient depression. There might be psychological pressure and trauma to the medical officers who would be required to conduct withdrawal of life support. The Supreme Court has already issued guidelines in this respect in the Aruna Shanbaug case that are to be treated as law. The Supreme Court, while dismissing the plea for mercy killing of a Mumbai nurse, Aruna Ramachandra Shanbaug, laid down guidelines to process passive euthanasia till Parliament passes a law, while making a clear distinction between active euthanasia, which means ending the life of a patient by injecting medication, and passive euthanasia, permitting to withdraw life support to a terminally ill patient.