Following a precedent-setting move, on January 30, 2025, the Karnataka Health Department issued a landmark order to implement the Supreme Court's ruling affirming a patient's legal right to die with dignity.

In 2018, the Supreme Court recognised the right to die with dignity as a fundamental right and prescribed guidelines for terminally ill patients to enforce the right. In 2023, the Supreme Court modified the guidelines to make the right to die with dignity more accessible.

In accordance with the Supreme Court ruling, the Karnataka State Government has mandated the formation of medical boards in state hospitals to review and facilitate requests for dignified deaths by executing the living wills of terminally ill patients.

According to the order, the State Health Department mandates hospitals to set up primary and secondary medical boards to evaluate requests from patients' closest relatives for the withdrawal of life-sustaining therapy (WLST) in accordance with living wills.

The State Health Minister Dinesh Gundu Rao considered this a “historic order” and an important step that will bring great relief and a dignified sense of closure to many families and individuals.

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He also highlighted that the decision will “immensely benefit those who are  terminally ill with no hope of recovery, or are in a persistent vegetative state, and where the patient no longer benefits from life-sustaining treatment.”

Karnataka stands out as the first state in India to have fully implemented the Right to Die with Dignity by establishing a  legal and medical framework in line with judicial directives. While Maharashtra and Kerala have taken steps toward implementation, Haryana has issued guidelines for terminally ill patients to exercise their right to die with dignity.