The Japanese Association for Acute Medicine adopted during a Oct. 15 meeting in Osaka the conditions under which physicians would be allowed to remove respirators from terminal-stage patients who are diagnosed as brain dead or those patients diagnosed as facing imminent death even if treatment is continued.

Under the guideline, doctors can stop treatment to prolong the life of terminal-stage patients if the patients express their wish in writing in advance that they do not want to receive treatment after falling into the terminal stage and their families approve such requests, or if the families express a similar desire on behalf of the patients.

Under the guideline, a patient is considered in the terminal stage if brain death has been determined and there is no chance of survival even by organ transplants, and if the person is expected to die within a few days under prolonged treatment.