Who is Dying, Doctor or Patient?
SUKHIT PHAOSA V ASDI, M.D.*, SURASAK T ANEEPANICHSKUL, M.D.*, PHINIT KULA VANIT, M.D.*** YUEN TANNIRANDORN, M.D.*, CHUMSAK PRUKSAPONG, M.D.**,
Affiliation : *Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Faculty of Medicine, Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok I 0330. **Department of Surgery, Police Hospital, Bangkok 10330, ***Department of Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok 10330, Thailand.
General Medical Council (GMC) is a legal body whose function is to see that patients do
receive appropriate standard medical care and to see that doctors do practise according to the GMC' s
regulations issue in 1983 and 1995 on medical ethics. Looking after patients with incurable
diseases is another problem which should be made into a regulation, policy, or a guideline for
medical members to follow so that society will not think doctors are selfish, with no feelings, use
expensive investigations, treatment, or charge fees excessively, as if doctors are heartless, mer-
ciless and treating patients not as human being but as machines. Sometimes doctors do too much,
other times too little. Patients with terminal cancer come to doctors too late with diseases which
presently have no treatment, or patients with full blown AIDS, very poor, without education and
support, or brain dead patients. In all these kinds of patients doctors from all walks of life, whether
publicly or privately would also like to practise with good ethical standard along the guidelines or
regulations from the appropriate and legal body. Every doctor is also somewhat worried about
being complained to the GMC or taken to the court of law on the issue that he or she practises
without ethical standard.
The laws of the GMC on ethical standard for medical practitioner issued in 1983 and 1995
and criteria in diagnosing brain death in 1989, and 1996 and regarding standard of technological
care in reproduction in 1997 were regarded as very useful and helpful for medical practice, very
clear, and ones which society can accept.
How can an institution such as the GMC react quickly in response to the feeling of society
on ethical issues by setting standard of practise for Thai medical practitioners quickly and
appropriately.
Keywords : Ethics, Terminal Case
