Harish Rana, India’s first person to be allowed passive euthanasia, dies

• Harish Rana, the first person in India to be allowed passive euthanasia, passed away at AIIMS-Delhi on March 24.

• The 31-year-old had been in a coma since 2013.

• Passive euthanasia is the intentional act of letting a patient die by withholding or withdrawing life support or the treatment necessary to keep him alive.

• On March 11, the Supreme Court in a landmark judgment allowed passive euthanasia for Harish Rana, who was a BTech student at Panjab University who fell from a fourth-floor balcony in 2013 and suffered severe head injuries.

• He had been in a coma since, with artificial nutrition support and occasional oxygen support.

• In its judgment, the Supreme Court had directed AIIMS-Delhi to ensure that life support is withdrawn with a tailored plan so that dignity is maintained.

• A specialised medical team headed by Dr Seema Mishra was constituted to implement the process, the first in India.

• The team comprised doctors from departments of neurosurgery, onco-anaesthesia and palliative medicine, and psychiatry.

• Rana was shifted from his Ghaziabad home to the palliative care unit at Dr BR Ambedkar Institute Rotary Cancer Hospital at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) on March 14.

• Rana’s nutritional support was gradually withdrawn after he was admitted to the hospital.