Revista de investigación forense

Legal Regulation of Euthanasia in Mongolia

Abstract

Sukhbaatar Chuluunsukh, Enkhbat Bayarmaa, Minjuur Tserenbat and Tseren Tuvshinjargal

Introduction: Due to globalization and changes in the health care delivery system, there has been a gradual change in the attitude of the medical community as well as the lay public toward greater acceptance of euthanasia as an option for terminally ill and dying patients. Physicians in developing countries come across situations where such issues are raised with increasing frequency. As euthanasia has gained world?wide prominence, the objectives of our study therefore were to explore the attitude of physicians and patients toward euthanasia and related issues. Concomitantly, we wanted to ascertain the frequency of requests for assistance in active euthanasia.

Materials and methods: Questionnaire based survey among terminally ill patients, their caregivers, treating physicians.

Study objectives: 1. To study the knowledge of the legal regulation of painless death and euthanasia among terminally ill patients, their caregivers, treating physicians.

2. To study the national legal regulation of euthanasia in Mongolia.

Results: Of the 120 terminally ill patients surveyed, 75% said euthanasia should be legalized, 98.9% were in favor of euthanasia, 87.5% of them were fed up with economic problems, and 91.7% were tired of medical care. According to the results of palliative care physicians, 45.8% supported euthanasia, 23% concluded that it was a way to reduce pain and suffering, and 56.2% did not know the legal regulation of euthanasia. However, 29.2% of euthanasia requests came from patients, 37.5% from caregivers, and 4.1% from children. 89.5% of doctors believed that there is a need for the legal regulation of euthanasia for patients in the terminal stage of the disease. Among patients no significant differences were observed for age, religion, or underlying health status.

Conclusion: In the terminal stage of the disease, the patient has a deep economic and emotional crisis, which affects the psychology of the doctor and the caregivers and makes them think about euthanasia. However, there is insufficient legal regulation of euthanasia in Mongolia, and there is a lack of knowledge on how to solve it.