The civil legality of the practice of orthothanasia by physicians regarding the patient’s free will

Abstract

By constitutional interpretation based on the fundamental principle of human dignity as well as on the right to life, it is understood that the Federal Constitution ensures the right to die with dignity. However, there is no federal law regulating that right. Considering the social, juridical and philosophical issues involving dignified death, the normative gap generates legal uncertainty, which is expressed on the fear physicians have of suffering judicial sanctions for practicing orthothanasia. Therefore, this work proposes to analyze the damage liability of the medical doctor who practices orthothanasia. To that point, dignified death was conceptualized in its ethical and juridical comprehension, and then the concepts of dysthanasia, assisted suicide, euthanasia and orthothanasia were defined. It was verified that the physicians who does not practice orthothanasia, whenever elected by the patient as their treatment, perpetrates an illicit action for which they may be held liable.