The Right to Refuse Treatment Based on the Buddhist Ethics

Abstract

The Right to Refuse Medical Treatment in line with the Buddhist
Ethics aimed at studying the concept and process of refusing the
medical treatment in the western and eastern countries and in the concept
of Buddhist Ethics.
Regarding to the concept of refusing the medical treatment, it
has been occurring in the United States of America and other countries.
The reject of blood transfusion due to the religious belief, unable to heal
due to the high medical expense and living in the desolate society without
relatives therefore they refused to the treatment. However, the Thai
people have been influenced from abroad as well, but the factors of refuse to
treatment were different viz., to help the hopeless patients from their
sufferings, to reduce the cost of treatment from the relatives and the will to
die or live is the personal freedom.
The process of legal right to refuse medical treatment based on
the National Health Act, B.E. 2550, it is defined in the Ministerial Regulation
Section, 1 on the Rights and Duties of Health Article 12. The statements
can be summarized as: persons have right of writing a letter of intent
to refuse the medical treatment that is just to prolong life or to end the
suffering from illness. If the doctor has followed the letter of intent under
paragraph one, he or she is not considered as doing the wrong action.
Regarding to the problem analysis on the legal right to refuse
medical treatment based on the National Health Act, B.E. 2550, it was
found the disagreement about the National Health Act that has vulnerable
to implementation, and because there are many invalid aspects based the
rules and regulations. However, the Buddhist Ethics presented the idea of
right and wrong and the solution of the legal right to refuse medical treatment
for 3 stages viz., 1) the Fundamental Buddhist Ethics - Pañcas̵īla
or the Five Precepts and Pañcadhamma: the five ennobling virtues, 2)
Intermediate Buddhist Ethics- Kusala-kammapatha: whole some course 

of action and akusala-kammapatha: unwholesome course of action and 3)
Advance Buddhist Ethics – Ariyamagga: the Eightfold Noble Path and
included the criteria of wholesomeness and unwholesomeness as: 1)
intention, 2) Action and 3) Fruition. Therefore, if a person conduct in
wrong act of the primarily Buddhist Ethics is considered as the wrong
action based on the Buddhist Ethics.
Keywords:Right to Refuse Treatment, Buddhist Ethics