In 1986, Wang Mingcheng applied to a doctor to perform China's first "euthanasia" for his mother, who was suffering from illness, and the public security organs arrested him and the doctor who performed the "euthanasia" and was acquitted after six years in prison. In 2003, when Wang Mingcheng was suffering from cancer and was terminally ill, he applied to the hospital to implement "euthanasia" for himself, and the hospital, after careful consideration, refused that "in China, 'euthanasia' has not yet been legalized, and the hospital cannot implement 'euthanasia' for patients".
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="2" > mother suffered from illness, and Takako knelt down to beg the doctor to perform "euthanasia" for her mother</h1>
On the morning of October 4, 1984, Wang Mingcheng, who was working at the Third Printing and Dyeing Factory in Xi'an City, Shaanxi Province, suddenly received a telegram from his eldest sister from Hanzhong: My mother was sick and hospitalized, please return quickly.
A few short words, but wang Mingcheng was anxious, he immediately asked the section chief for leave, and hurriedly took the car back to his hometown in Hanzhong.
Wang Mingcheng's father died early, and Wang Mingcheng and his two older sisters and a younger sister were raised by their mother, who was a worker. Her mother, Xia Suwen, worked hard all her life, but in her later years she suffered from illness. Wang Mingcheng knew that his mother's illness was caused by fatigue, he blamed himself for not being able to perform filial piety around his mother, and on the way home, he constantly blamed himself in his heart, and he was eager to fly to his mother's side immediately.
When Wang Mingcheng rushed back to Hanzhong, his mother had been admitted to the Hanzhong Infectious Disease Hospital and was diagnosed with "cirrhosis of the liver and ascites.". This disease is due to hepatocyte degeneration, necrosis, regeneration, prompting fibrous tissue hyperplasia and scar contraction, resulting in hardening of the liver texture to form cirrhosis, causing portal hypertension, liver function damage, resulting in ascites. Wang Mingcheng's mother belongs to the severe "cirrhosis of the liver ascites", not only the abdomen bulges obviously, but also the face is emaciated, breathing difficulty, moaning in pain in the hospital bed, seeing this scene, Wang Mingcheng's heart is like a knife, and then, he took a long leave from the factory to accompany his mother in the hospital.
After the Spring Festival in 1986, Wang Mingcheng's mother's condition worsened, and after entering June, Wang Mingcheng's mother, who had been bedridden for a long time, had pressure sores on her buttocks, edema of her lower limbs, swelling of her abdomen, frequent urinary incontinence, and unconsciousness.
At noon on June 12, my mother, who had been in a coma for many days, suddenly woke up, took off an ancestral gold ring she was wearing in her hand and handed it to Wang Mingcheng, saying: "Mingcheng, if you are distressed about your mother, let me die quickly, I really can't stand this kind of pain and torture." ”
Wang Mingcheng immediately lost his voice and cried bitterly, he could understand his mother's current situation, lying on the hospital bed for almost two years, his condition has never improved, and the whole person is tormented by the disease. Instead of being so painfully supported, it is better to free yourself early, and continuing to treat will only increase the pain of the mother.
In the following ten days, Wang Mingcheng's mother was almost in a severe coma, occasionally waking up, and constantly repeatedly asking her son to find a way to make himself "die quickly". On the morning of June 25, Wang Mingcheng and his sister asked their mother's doctor in charge, Pu Liansheng, about her mother's condition, and Pu Liansheng bluntly told him that the disease was in an advanced stage and that there was no hope of treatment. Wang Mingcheng said: "Since my mother's illness has not been saved, can we take some measures to let him die less painfully and happily?" ”
Pu Liansheng understood that Wang Mingcheng's "taking some measures" meant "euthanasia", and he immediately waved his hand and refused: "No, doctors in foreign countries can carry out so-called 'euthanasia' for terminally ill patients, but there is no legislation in this regard in China." ”
At about 9 a.m. on June 28, Wang Mingcheng went to Pu Liansheng's office again and asked for "euthanasia" for his mother, but Director Pu disagreed and said: "If you don't want to treat it, you will pull the patient back." ”
Wang Mingcheng immediately fell to his knees, crying and begging the doctor to agree to his request, and expressed his willingness to take all responsibility. Pu Liansheng was touched by Wang Mingcheng's filial piety, so he acquiesced to his request and prescribed a 100 mg "compound hibernation spirit" prescription to the Queen Mother. "Compound hibernation spirit" is one of the drugs commonly used in pediatric clinical sedation, the maximum dose of one injection is 50mg/5ml, this drug is a prudent product, not a taboo product, the lethal amount is 800 mg, but the body function of the queen mother has been in a state of exhaustion, any auxiliary drug once the dose is increased, it may cause unpredictable consequences. Pu Liansheng knew how serious the consequences of prescribing this prescription were, and specifically stated on the prescription that "the family requested euthanasia" and asked Wang Mingcheng to sign the prescription.
At about 3 p.m. on June 28, the nurse on duty injected Xia Suwen with a 100 mg dose of "compound hibernation spirit". At 5 a.m. on June 29, the queen mother, who had fallen into a coma, passed away peacefully, and she also became the first patient in China to undergo "euthanasia".
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="16" > acquitted after six years of detention</h1>
On July 1, 1986, after burying his mother, Wang Mingcheng was preparing to return to Xi'an to work, but his eldest sister and second sister did not know what to do, and did not spare the hospital to treat her mother to death, and forcibly demanded that the hospital compensate for her mother's medical expenses and burial expenses, and the Hanzhong Infectious Diseases Hospital categorically refused.
Xia Suwen attending doctor Pu Liansheng
Wang Mingcheng, who originally followed his mother's last wishes and cried for doctors to implement "euthanasia", panicked at this time, after all, the implementation of "euthanasia" in China is not only immoral, but also violates the law. Soon, the matter could not be hidden. On July 3, Wang Mingcheng's two sisters went to the Hanzhong City Public Security Bureau and the procuratorate to accuse doctor Pu Liansheng of intentional homicide. The Hanzhong Municipal Public Security Bureau then filed a case and investigated the case.
Pu Liansheng was touched by Wang Mingcheng's great filial piety, and only reluctantly prescribed a 100-milligram "compound hibernation spirit" prescription, for which he specially asked Wang Mingcheng to sign the prescription. Wang Mingcheng's two sisters were meant to recover some expenses, but the police also summoned him through Wang Mingcheng's signature on the prescription. Seeing that the younger brother was involved, the two sisters regretted it and asked for the case to be withdrawn, but the public security and procuratorial organs refused on the grounds that the case was a public prosecution case and could not be withdrawn.
On September 20, 1987, the Hanzhong Municipal People's Procuratorate arrested Wang Mingcheng, Pu Liansheng, and others for intentional homicide, and filed a public prosecution with the Hanzhong Intermediate People's Court on February 8, 1988.
The focus of the case was on whether the "compound hibernation spirit" was the main cause of the Queen Mother's death, and whether the "family members asking for euthanasia" in black and white constituted intentional homicide.
From March 16 to 19, 1990, the First Instance Trial of the Hanzhong Intermediate People's Court was held, and the court was full. The case caused great controversy at the time, and the court, based on the principle of "taking the facts as the basis and the law as the criterion", after repeated verification, reached the following conclusion:
"'Compound hibernation spirit' is a prudent product, not a taboo product, the lethal amount is 800 mg, and the doctors of Hanzhong Infectious Disease Hospital only use a total of 100 mg to the patient, which is not the direct cause of the patient's death." Xia Suwen's direct causes of death were hepatic encephalopathy, severe liver and kidney failure, and pressure ulcer infection was not excluded. In fact, the fact for the patient is not really 'euthanasia'. ”
On May 6, 1991, the court finally found that Wang Mingcheng and Pu Liansheng had violated the law with minor circumstances, little harm, and did not constitute a crime, and announced their acquittal. However, the procuratorate did not approve of the court's judgment and filed a protest, while Wang Mingsheng and Pu Liancheng appealed to the first-instance judgment that their actions were illegal. On June 25, 1992, the Hanzhong Intermediate People's Court made a retrial ruling: the Appeal of the Hanzhong Municipal People's Procuratorate and Wang Mingcheng and Pu Liansheng was rejected, and the original judgment was upheld.
After nearly 6 years of detention, Wang Mingcheng and Pu Liansheng were finally acquitted after two trials, and the dust settled on China's first "euthanasia" murder case, and Wang Mingcheng returned to his original unit in Xi'an after being released.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="27" > was seriously ill and in so much pain that he wanted to emulate his mother's "euthanasia" and was rejected by the hospital</h1>
In 1998, Wang Mingcheng was laid off and could only receive 230 yuan a month from the Xi'an Municipal Labor and Social Security Department. Although his wife still works in the factory, she receives a monthly salary of less than 400 yuan. Mr. and Mrs. Wang Mingcheng have a son who is in his second year of high school and is at the top of his class in his academic performance. In order to support his son to complete high school and continue to study in college, Wang Mingcheng did not sit idle at home after laying off, but went out to work day and night, doing all kinds of hard and dirty work, and finally accumulated fatigue and illness.
Wang Mingcheng's wife cooks in the ward
On November 3, 2000, Wang Mingcheng, who felt unwell, went to the hospital for examination and was found to have stomach cancer, which was like a thunderbolt on a sunny day, completely crushing the already poor family. Ten days after being hospitalized, Wang Mingcheng had to remove three-quarters of his stomach.
Cancer was eroding Wang Mingcheng's body like a demon, and there was no money for follow-up treatment, and Wang Mingcheng was forced to give up chemotherapy and radiation therapy. In just one year, the cancer cells in the stomach quickly spread to the liver and were diagnosed with a variety of diseases such as heart disease, bronchitis, and heart failure. Wang Ming, who was full of pain, gritted his teeth and resisted until January 7, 2003, when he was forcibly sent to Xi'an Central Hospital by his wife Wu Lirong and his son, who was studying at a university in Xi'an.
After being admitted to the hospital, faced with the high cost of treatment, the wife and son took turns to accompany them while borrowing money from everywhere. In order not to let Wang Mingcheng have a psychological burden, his wife and son all pretended to be okay in front of him and laughed, but Wang Mingcheng knew in his heart that the family had paid too much for the treatment of his illness, he did not want to become the family's drag oil bottle, the cost of treating cancer was a bottomless pit, and whether it could be cured was still unknown, continuing to treat the family could only make the family in debt, Wang Mingcheng did not want his family to desperately pay off the "sick debt" after his death.
Wang Mingcheng decided to choose "euthanasia". On February 4, he secretly made a request for "euthanasia" to the hospital, but the hospital refused.
After his wife and children learned of Wang Mingcheng's thoughts from the doctor, they resolutely opposed it, crying and persuading Wang Mingcheng: "Even if the family is ruined, we must let you live until the last moment." ”
The inseparable and warm care of his wife and children gave Wang Mingcheng the confidence to resist the disease, and he began to actively cooperate with doctors and nurses to treat with peace of mind. However, due to the lack of timely and effective treatment in the early stage, the cancer cells spread to other parts of his body, and the speed of deterioration of the disease was unexpected by everyone. The huge pain made Wang Mingcheng unbearable, and the painkiller did not work until the maximum amount was eaten, and the doctor began to inject him with durandine.
Wang Mingcheng, who was tormented by the disease, once again thought of "euthanasia", and he wanted to be relieved quickly, and did not want to die and struggle anymore. This time, Wang Mingcheng directly told his wife the idea of hoping for "euthanasia", but his wife Wu Lirong still firmly opposed it, crying and saying: "If you really die like this, will others not break the backbone?" Besides, if you really left like your mother, what should the public security department do if you arrest me? Ming Cheng, listen to my words, your illness can be cured, I am not afraid to spend money. ”
"Li Rong, you don't know how much pain I am in now, it's better to live than to die, I beg you, sooner or later it will be death, you might as well let me go calmly." After Wang Mingcheng finished speaking, he hugged his wife and wept.
Wang Mingcheng's determination to hope for "euthanasia" has not changed. On June 5, he again proposed "euthanasia" to the hospital, saying that he was the son of Xia Suwen, the first patient in China. After the hospital learned of this situation, it attached great importance to it and immediately asked Wang Mingcheng to write a written application for "euthanasia". On the 7th, Wang Mingcheng submitted the written "euthanasia" application to the hospital. In order to avoid causing a lawsuit for his family after his mother's "euthanasia", Wang Mingcheng did not let his wife sign the application.
Wang Mingcheng, who signed the written application for "euthanasia"
As early as 1986, Wang Mingcheng's mother Xia Suwen, as the first patient of "euthanasia" in China, had a huge impact on society, triggering a controversy over whether "euthanasia" was contrary to morality and law, and China has not enacted legislation on "euthanasia", which also shows that our country has always been cautious about "euthanasia". It is precisely for this reason that Xi'an Central Hospital has not dared to make decisions. Two days after Wang Mingcheng submitted his written application for "euthanasia" to the hospital, on the morning of June 9, after studying and submitting it to the relevant departments at a higher level for review, Xi'an Central Hospital gave Wang Mingcheng a clear answer: In the absence of national legislation, the hospital cannot implement "euthanasia" for you.
After the two requests for "euthanasia" were rejected by the hospital, Wang Mingcheng no longer insisted, he was already terminally ill, he only wanted to use the last time to talk to his wife and children, but the disease did not want to let him go, and in the end, Wang Mingcheng even had a very hard time talking, and his wife Wu Lirong could only wipe his tears secretly when he saw her husband lying on the bed thin and almost out of shape.
On July 30, 2003, Wang Mingcheng was completely out of shape, his body was dry, and his eye sockets were deeply sunken, but he still beat him and said that he could not practice "euthanasia", which he regretted. On the night of August 2, 2003, Wang Mingcheng's condition deteriorated, he felt the call of death, and said to his wife, "I'm afraid I won't be able to survive the dawn, and my heart is very afraid", which seems very nostalgic. Subsequently, Wang Mingcheng screamed in pain and fell into a coma. At 3:30 a.m. on August 3, Wang Mingcheng stopped breathing in pain.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="43" > about "euthanasia"</h1>
Wang Mingcheng is an ordinary person, but twice associated with "euthanasia", and his actions and experiences have aroused social attention and discussion about the controversial topic of "euthanasia".
"Euthanasia" refers to stopping treatment or using drugs for patients who cannot be treated, so that the patient can die painlessly. The word "euthanasia" is derived from the Greek word meaning "happy" death. It consists of two meanings, one is a happy painless death, and the other is a painless death.
Wang Mingcheng with his wife and children
As an ordinary person, Wang Mingcheng was twice associated with "euthanasia" and sparked a big discussion about "euthanasia". Wang Mingcheng is a rare great filial piety! When he implemented "euthanasia" for his mother, it was out of love for his mother, he did not want to see his mother leave in pain and torture, when he himself faced the same disease, he wanted to emulate his mother to seek "liberation" through "euthanasia", which is not that he did not cherish his life, on the contrary, he loved himself very much, and loved his family more, but if his pain aggravated the pain of his relatives, he preferred to choose "euthanasia".
We often say that we should have a reverence for life, and that our bodies are covered by our parents, so we should take good care of our bodies. Death, old age, illness and death are natural laws, but whether human beings have the right to choose death is indeed the problem we have to face at the moment, whether people will die, whether to pay attention to the value of life and maintain human dignity, rather than "euthanasia" in this way, so that the pain of illness is minimized and people die unnaturally.
In our country's traditional moral conception, living, even if it is painful, is the greatest respect for life. "Euthanasia" is not only not morally acceptable in our country, but also unacceptable to the law. Even in more modern countries, only a handful of regions allow "euthanasia" as a way of ending lives, and to date, only 5 countries in the world have passed "euthanasia" bills. It can be said that in the social discussion of "euthanasia", which is about morality and law, the vast majority of countries in the world are very sober.
The vast majority of countries in the world have not legislated on "euthanasia", after all, the "euthanasia" problem is not a simple legal issue, it involves philosophy, religion, ethics, medicine, law, sociology and other wide fields, as far as the history of the world's debate on euthanasia is concerned, whether to legislate euthanasia, what kind of law has been and will be discussed for a long time, and the discussion of related issues after legislation will still exist for a long time.