An Advance Medical Directive (AMD) is a legal document signed by a person, in advance, to indicate that he/she does not wish to have any extraordinary life-sustaining treatment to prolong his/her life in the event he/she becomes terminally ill and unconscious, and where death is imminent.1
The Singapore parliament passed the Advance Medical Directive Act in May 1996 to allow Singaporeans who wish to make an AMD to do so.2 The law came into effect in July 1997.3 As medical technology advances, some of these new possibilities can raise ethical and legal issues. For example, while medical technology can technically prolong life in the final stages of a terminal illness, it cannot stop the dying process. Further medical intervention would be medically ineffective and some terminally ill persons, who are unable to express their wishes at that time, may wish to be spared further suffering and would like to die naturally.4
Under the act, an AMD can only be executed when a patient is certified with a terminal illness; needs extraordinary life-sustaining treatment; and is not capable of making rational judgment. After the AMD has taken effect, a patient with terminal illness will still receive palliative care and medication.5
Anyone who is aged 21 years and above, and of a sound mind, can make an AMD. Any person who wishes to make an AMD can do so by completing a prescribed AMD form, signed in the presence of two witnesses, and return it to the Registrar of AMD. The AMD form is available at private clinics or polyclinics. It is a voluntary decision and no one can make an AMD on behalf of another person.6
An AMD can be revoked at any time in the presence of at least one witness. This can be done by either completing a standard form for revocation of an AMD or by writing to the Registrar of AMD.7
Author
Joycelyn Hwang
References
1. Ministry of Health Singapore. (2010). Advance Medical Directive Act. Retrieved 2016, May 30 from Ministry of Health website: https://www.moh.gov.sg/content/moh_web/home/legislation/legislation_and_guidelines/advance_medical_directiveact.html
2. House passes Advance Medical Directive Bill. (1996, May 3). The Straits Times, p. 1. Retrieved from NewspaperSG.
3. Advance Medical Directive (AMD) comes into force today. (1997, July 1). The Straits Times, p. 26. Retrieved from NewspaperSG.
4. Ministry of Health Singapore. (2010). Advance Medical Directive Act. Retrieved 2016, May 30 from Ministry of Health website: https://www.moh.gov.sg/content/moh_web/home/legislation/legislation_and_guidelines/advance_medical_directiveact.html
5. Ministry of Health Singapore. (2010). Advance Medical Directive Act. Retrieved 2016, May 30 from Ministry of Health website: https://www.moh.gov.sg/content/moh_web/home/legislation/legislation_and_guidelines/making_an_amd.html
6. Singapore. The Statutes of the Republic of Singapore. (1997, Rev. ed.). Advanced Medical Directive Act (Cap.4A). Retrieved 2016, June 7 from Singapore Statutes Online website: http://statutes.agc.gov.sg/aol/search/display/view.w3p;page=0;query=CompId%3Ad9f981d5-633a-4a48-8fbb-c4f858a3ea27%20ValidTime%3A20170324000000%20TransactionTime%3A20170324000000;rec=0;resUrl=http%3A%2F%2Fstatutes.agc.gov.sg%2Faol%2Fbrowse%2FtitleResults.w3p%3Bletter%3DA%3Btype%3DactsCur
7. Advance medical directive: The facts. (2001, April 8). The Straits Times, p. 26. Retrieved from NewspaperSG.
The information this article is valid as at 2016 and correct as far as we can ascertain from our sources. It is not intended to be an exhaustive or complete history of the subject. Please contact the Library for further reading materials on the topic.
The information on this page and any images that appear here may be used for private research and study purposes only. They may not be copied, altered or amended in any way without first gaining the permission of the copyright holder.
The Sunny Ang murder case was one of the most high-profile crimes in 1960s Singapore. Sunny Ang Soo Suan (also known as Anthony Ang), a one-time Grand Prix driver, was accused of causing the death of his girlfriend, Jenny Cheok Cheng Kid, a former barmaid, so that he could collect...
Singapore’s national reserves are the net assets (assets minus liabilities) of the country. Being a small nation lacking in natural resources and relying heavily on external trade, Singapore requires ample reserves as its security net to ensure a stable currency and to provide a cushion in times of crisis. The...
The Cathedral of the Good Shepherd stands at the junction of Queen Street and Bras Basah Road. Built between 1843 and 1847, it is the oldest surviving Catholic church in Singapore. The Cathedral was gazetted as a national monument on 28 June 1973....
The Singapore Armed Forces Non-Commissioned Officers (SAF NCO) Club was set up in 1974 to strengthen the bonds among members of the Singapore Armed Forces (SAF). It was located in a two-storey clubhouse along Beach Road. This building, constructed between 1951 and 1952, had housed several recreational clubs for military...
Chesed-El Synagogue, located at Oxley Rise, is one of two synagogues currently in use in Singapore. It was designed by Regent Alfred John Bidwell of Swan & Maclaren, and completed in 1905. Its name, Chesed-El, means “bountiful mercy and goodness of God”. The building was gazetted as a national monument...
Hand Foot Mouth Disease (HFMD) is an infectious disease caused by intestinal viruses, the most common being the Coxsackie virus Enterovirus 71. The symptoms of HFMD include fever, sore throat and runny nose, rash on the hands, feet and buttocks, mouth ulcers, lack of appetite, vomiting and diarrhoea and tiredness...
Even before the two casinos in Marina Bay Sands and Resorts World Sentosa opened in 2010, Singaporeans had been gambling away billions of dollars each year....
The "curry murder" was a high-profile murder case in 1984 that supposedly involved the perpetrators covering up the killing by chopping the victim Ayakanno Marimuthu's (given as Marithamuthu in some sources) body into pieces and cooking them in curry. In March 1987, six suspects, including Marimuthu's wife Nagaratha Vally Ramiah...
Gregory Yong Sooi Nghean, Archbishop Emeritus (b. 20 May 1925, Perak, Malaysia – d. 28 June 2008, Singapore) was the Roman Catholic archbishop of Singapore from 1977 to 2000. He was the second archbishop of Singapore and the first local clergy to be appointed to this role....
The Orchard Towers double murder refers to the murders of Kho Nai Guan, aged 46, and his girlfriend Lan Ya Ming, aged 30, by Michael McCrea in 2002. The British financial adviser, with the help of three others, dumped the bodies in a car which was subsequently abandoned in the...