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Aruna Shanbaug: Is Her Demise the End of the Road for Legislation on Euthanasia in India?

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Abstract

Aruna Ramachandra Shanbaug breathed her last after 42 years of being in a persistent vegetative state. Euthanasia in any form is not permitted in India and it was only in the year 2011 that a petition was filed in the court that urged the cessation of her force feeding with a nasogastric tube and the request for her peaceful death. What followed was a string of arguments and counter arguments relating to Euthanasia. The sad demise of Aruna Shanbaug is not the end of an individual, but may be the end of the road for clear cut guidelines and legislation on Euthanasia in India.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Forensic Medicine and Toxicology, Kasturba Medical College (Affiliated to Manipal University), Mangalore, India

    Tanuj Kanchan

  2. Department of Forensic Medicine, Manipal Teaching Hospital, Pokhara, Nepal

    Alok Atreya

  3. Department of Anthropology, Panjab University, Sector-14, Chandigarh, 160 014, India

    Kewal Krishan

Authors
  1. Tanuj Kanchan
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  2. Alok Atreya
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  3. Kewal Krishan
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Kewal Krishan.

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Kanchan, T., Atreya, A. & Krishan, K. Aruna Shanbaug: Is Her Demise the End of the Road for Legislation on Euthanasia in India?. Sci Eng Ethics 22, 1251–1253 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11948-015-9687-4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11948-015-9687-4

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