"Anyway" Meaning in this context

Question

A man was dying; a doctor stood near him, and the doctor's wife was also there. Both of them (husband and wife) were hesitating to do something for the dying man. Then the doctor said

"The Question is whether he will not die anyway."

I wish to know the meaning of it.

Collins Cobuild lists the following meanings for anyway:

1 adverb

You use anyway or anyhow to indicate that a statement explains or supports a previous point.

I'm certain David's told you his business troubles. Anyway, it's no secret that he owes money.

Mother certainly won't let him stay with her and anyhow he wouldn't.

Synonyms: anyhow, regardless, in any case, for all that

2. adverb

You use anyway or anyhow to suggest that a statement is true or relevant in spite of other things that have been said.

I don't know why I settled on Aberdeen, but anyway I did.

I wasn't qualified to apply for the job really but I got it anyhow.

3. adverb

You use anyway or anyhow to correct or modify a statement, for example to limit it to what you definitely know to be true.

Mary Ann doesn't want to have children. Not right now, anyway.

4. adverb

You use anyway or anyhow to indicate that you are asking what the real situation is or what the real reason for something is.

What do you want from me, anyway?

Where the hell was Bud, anyhow?

5. adverb

You use anyway or anyhow to indicate that you are missing out some details in a story and are passing on to the next main point or event.

I was told to go to Reading for this interview.

It was a very amusing affair. Anyhow, I got the job.

6. adverb

You use anyway or anyhow to change the topic or return to a previous topic.

'I've got a terrible cold.'—'Have you? Oh dear. Anyway, so you're not going to go away this weekend?'

7. adverb

You use anyway or anyhow to indicate that you want to end the conversation.

'Anyway, I'd better let you have your dinner. Give our love to Francis. Bye.'

'Anyhow, thanks a lot. Bye bye.'

Answer 1

The question posted is poorly worded because it combines the asking of "whether" with a negative topic of consideration. The question should really be whether he will die anyway. Asking whether he will not die is confusing because the "whether" consideration is implicitly testing the affirmative case.

In the link you provided, the second definition most closely matches the meaning of "anyway" in the example sentence. That definition is:

You use anyway or anyhow to suggest that a statement is true or relevant in spite of other things that have been said.

It's a little tricky if you only look at the example sentence because the other things that have been said probably appear in the source writing before the example sentence does. However, if you replace the word "anyway" with "regardless", the meaning of the sentence might become clearer.