Testamento Vital e a responsabilidade penal: a autonomia do paciente versus o papel do médico

Abstract

Scientific advances in medicine are responsible for countless improvements, innovating procedures and treatments for diseases, developing drugs with better efficiency, improving life support equipment, etc. On the other hand, such advances are also used to postpone the moment of death, prolonging this process too much and, sometimes, contradicting the individual's will to die without any intervention. In view of this scenario, the Living Will emerges, a document that aims to ensure that the patient's autonomy is respected when he is at the end of his life. The present research, of qualitative nature, was accomplished through bibliographic research, with the analysis of the material by the dialectic method. The general objective is to verify, under the perspective of Criminal Law, if the doctor, when respecting the will of this patient, disposed 4 in the Living Will, commits a crime or if such behavior is lawful in the national legal system. To this end, the doctor-patient relationship at the end of life was visited, contextualizing it based on the historical development of the notion of death. Subsequently, it was explained what the Living Will consists of, its legal foundations in the absence of specific legislation, defining in which cases it can be applied. Then, the doctor's criminal liability was approached, based on some principles that guide the matter, as well as what would be a crime and the commissive and omissive modalities. Finally, the concepts of euthanasia, dysthanasia and orthothanasia were visited in order to establish whether the suspension of treatments provided for in a Living Will is subject to Criminal Law.