Medical Obligation

[thistle]

Is a person obligated to accept medical treatment even if it is necessary to save their life?

Suppose, for example, a person has a heart attack. He is still coherent and his doctors tell him he must have emergency heart surgery or he will die. Can he refuse the treatment even though there is a high probability he will survive with the treatment?

In other words, is he committing some kind of sin by allowing himself to die?

I would say that person is not committing any kind of sin by refusing treatment but simply letting nature take its course.

 

[Kathrin]

I would say that person is not committing any kind of sin by refusing treatment but simply letting nature take its course.

What if it is somebody who is already depressed, and kind of glad to be able to pass on without having to commit suicide himself? And thus refusing a very simple treatment?

Either one could say: Ok, then he can be thankful to God that God is taking him home, sparing him the sin of committing suicide.
Or one could say: So it actually IS a form of suicide.

Really confused here.