ADDRESS BY HON’BLE MR. JUSTICE S.VAIDYANATHAN CHIEF JUSTICE, HIGH COURT OF MEGHALAYAON ‘PALLIATIVE CARE’ ON 10.07.2024 (Wednesday) at 10.30 amON THE INAUGURATION OFDR.MAM RAMASWAMY CANCER INSTITUTE,CHETTINAD HEALTH CITY, KELAMBAKKAM, CHENNAI

ADDRESS BY HON’BLE MR. JUSTICE S.VAIDYANATHAN CHIEF JUSTICE, HIGH COURT OF MEGHALAYA
ON ‘PALLIATIVE CARE’ ON 10.07.2024 (Wednesday) at 10.30 am
ON THE INAUGURATION OF
DR.MAM RAMASWAMY CANCER INSTITUTE,
CHETTINAD HEALTH CITY, KELAMBAKKAM, CHENNAI

Dear Friends on the dais and off the dais, a fine morning to all.

I am to happy to be amidst this gathering to address a few words on the importance of Palliative Care to patients.
➢ The word ‘Palliate’ means ‘TO RELIEVE PAIN AND SUFFERING’. Palliative care involves treatment and relief of suffering experienced by patients, especially those with chronic diseases like Cancer, Heart failure and life-threatening illness.
➢ The Principles of Palliative Care involves sensitivity (czh;jpwd;), empathy (mDjhgk;;), compassion (,uf;fk;;), and demonstrates concern for the individual.
➢ Palliative care is provided by a multi-disciplinary team of health care providers including Doctors, Nurses, Community Caregivers among others, and it can be delivered in hospital, clinic, hospice, home, etc.
➢ The ultimate goal of Palliative Care is to IMPROVE THE QUALITY
OF LIFE for both the patient and the family, regardless of
diagnosis, as “Life is worth living every day until the last one.”
➢ Regardless of the age, diagnosis, or outlook, “Patients receiving specialized medical care for severe diseases were given relief from the symptoms, suffering, and consequences involved with their conditions”.
➢ Although palliative care, unlike hospice care, does not depend on prognosis, as the end of life approaches, the role of palliative care intensifies and focuses on aggressive symptom management and psychosocial support.
➢ While dying is a normal part of life, death is often treated as an illness. As a consequence, many people die in hospitals, alone and in pain. Palliative care focuses primarily on anticipating, preventing, diagnosing, and treating symptoms experienced by patients with a serious or life-threatening illness and helping patients and their families make medically important decisions.

➢ Helping patients and their families understand the nature of illness and prognosis is a crucial aspect of palliative care near the end of
life.
➢ Additionally, palliative care specialists help patients and their families to determine appropriate medical care and to align the patient’s care goals with those of the healthcare team.
➢ It is normal for someone who is sick to feel uneasy, restless, afraid, or anxious. Certain thoughts, pain, or trouble breathing may trigger these feelings. Palliative care providers can help the person cope with these symptoms and feelings.
➢ Researches have shown that there is a connection between the mind and the body. They have found that the immune system in the body which fights infection gets directly affected due to fear, anxiety, emotion and stress. Pessimism pushes people more into this mess while optimism is the only driving force to take you out of this mess.

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➢ Negative attitudes and feelings of helplessness and hopelessness can create chronic stress, which upsets the body’s hormone balance and damages the immune system. On the contrary, positive emotions build resilience to fight any physical or mental problem.
➢ Palliative care involves SPECIAL COUNSELLLING SKILLS for
patients and their families to relieve their emotional distress like guilt, fear, anger and anxiety. It also helps patients live longer.
➢ Hope often offers considerable allure for those nearing the end of life. In contexts where biomedical treatments cannot offer the possibility of cure or significant longevity, hope retains profound meaning, shaping experiences and relationships within and between families and professionals.
➢ As a medical speciality, palliative care has come to occupy an important space between and amongst countervailing emphases on hope (cure) and acceptance (death).

Legal Aspects of Palliative Care:
➢ Coming to the legal aspects of Palliative Care, the Supreme Court, while recognizing the right to life under Article 21 of the Constitution of India, has also considered the right to die with dignity. Since the legal aspects need to be discussed in detail, I do not want to delve into the same for the present.
➢ The right to life, more so, in persons facing terminal illness, who may be a patient in a vegetative state for years or for a short duration, need to be taken note of and whether the said patient should be given Euthanasia, is a controversial issue, as it deals with the termination of human life. Also, whether the patient suffering from terminal illness is facing great pain, and the disease will ultimately result in the death of the person, needs to be considered, as the right to end the life would be better rather than suffering from the disease.
➢ The Apex Court, while dealing with a case pertaining to Euthanasia, has considered Passive Euthanasia, where the person is in a
vegetative state or terminally-ill.

➢ I am of the view that there should be a debate involving Doctors and Legal Experts with regard to the question of ‘legally allowing a terminally-ill patient to die with the help of Active Euthanasia’, as it will certainly throw light to everyone, as many of us are aware that a person suffering from stage IV Cancer, is not going to survive long or lead a quality life.
About Mother:
➢ My mother was diagnosed with Cancer in the initial stage, when she was 68 years old and she was immediately given treatment. She lived up to 88 years, say for two decades. She was taken to the Hospital for regular check-ups, ensured that she was given proper medication and made to lead a happy life. All of my family members extended full support. In fact, she was made to forget that she was affected with Cancer. Ultimately, she died of old age.
➢ There was a slight doubt whether there was relapse. Then, the Doctors immediately attended to her and gave treatment, and there was no relapse.

➢ Initially, medicines were given to her for a period of 5 ½ years, though it was actually meant to be given only for 5 years. Doctors diagnosed that there was no recurrence and she was able to travel in train for a long distance. She had also been to abroad after treatment.
➢ In fact, the credit of taking care of my mother goes to my sister Vijayalakshmi, my brother Srinivasan and his wife, Srividya and also my wife, who supported her. Though, it is the duty of the children to take care of their parents, both the daughters-in-law devoted their valuable time for the welfare of my mother.
➢ The reason why I am saying this is, it is the family as a whole which gives a helping hand to the terminally affected person. There may be a situation where, you may try to be angry or frustrated. That should not be let out in the presence of the patient, as that will spoil the morale of the patient, thereby, the decent longevity of the patient will soon come to an end.
➢ At this juncture, I thank Dr.Mukesh, Dr.Sundaravadanam, Dr.Mallika, Dr.Roy, Dr.Gagaraj (Late), Dr.GandhiRaj (Late) and Dr.V.V.Selvakumar (Late), who provided good treatment to my mother with care. Thank you.