Patient in first `death with dignity` case survives critical moment

SEOUL, June 27 (Yonhap) -- A comatose patient whose life support was removed
earlier this week in the country's first court-approved "death with dignity" case
has survived yet another critical moment, the patient's doctors said Saturday.
The patient's blood oxygen saturation rate had dropped to 75 percent early
Friday, but it has since returned to the normal rate of about 95 percent,
according to the doctors at Seoul's Yonsei University Severance Hospital.
A person with lower than 90 percent blood oxygen is exposed to dangers of hypoxemia.
"We believed the patient would face a critical moment on Friday as her conditions
continued to fluctuate, but as of now the patient has recovered her normal
state," a hospital official said.
The patient, a 77-year-old woman identified only by her surname Kim, had her
respirator removed on Tuesday after the Supreme Court ruled against the unwilling
hospital based on the demands of patient's family members, who claimed Kim had
explicitly expressed her wish not to continue life support treatment if she ever
became incapacitated.
The court ruling came after a year-long legal battle between the hospital and
Kim's family that began shortly after the patient fell into a vegetative state in
February 2008.
It was first such case in South Korea, where euthanasia is strictly prohibited.
Debate on the decision has become more heated as the patient continues to breathe
on her own. The patient's family has said it will file a compensation suit
against the hospital for excessive treatment.
The patient is still receiving nutritional treatment and water.
bdk@yna.co.kr
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