Healthcare Ethics — Landmark Cases

Landmark Cases

Common Cause (A Registered Society) v. Union of India

2018

This landmark judgment by a five-judge Constitution Bench of the Supreme Court legalized passive euthanasia and gave legal sanctity to 'advance medical directives' or 'living…

Aruna Ramchandra Shanbaug v. Union of India

2011

This case brought the issue of euthanasia into the national spotlight. Aruna Shanbaug was a nurse who had been in a persistent vegetative state (PVS) for decades following a…

Parmanand Katara vs. Union of India

1989

This judgment established a fundamental ethical and legal principle in Indian medical practice: the primacy of saving a life over procedural formalities. The Supreme Court ruled…