Category: Canada

Many doctors won’t provide assisted dying

Canadian Medical Association Journal

Lauren Vogel

Canadian doctors remain deeply divided over whether and how to provide medical aid in dying, and what is required of those who refuse to assist in ending a patient’s life.

Earlier this year, the Supreme Court of Canada unanimously ruled that patients who face intolerable suffering from a “grievous and irremediable medical condition” have a constitutional right to doctor-assisted suicide. The decision overturned a previous ban; now federal legislators must regulate the practice by Feb. 6, 2016.

Exactly how physicians should respond to this new legal reality dominated discussion at the Canadian Medical Association (CMA) General Council in Halifax on Aug. 25. . . (Full text)

 

Majority of doctors opposed to participating in assisted death of patients: CMA survey

National Post

Sharon Kirkey

HALIFAX – Most Canadian doctors appear to be reluctant to help end a life, despite the Supreme Court of Canada’s ruling Canadians have a constitutional right to physician-assisted death, according to a new poll released Tuesday.

But results of the survey by the Canadian Medical Association – once long opposed to physician-hastened dying in any form – also suggest thousands of doctors would be willing to prescribe a fatal drug overdose for a patient whose suffering was purely psychological.

Overall, the online survey of 1,407 doctors in June and July found 29 per cent said they would consider providing “medical aid in dying” if requested by a patient; 63 per cent would refuse. . . (Full text)

 

Debate flies at CMA meeting over physician’s role in assisted dying

 Global News

Julia Wong

HALIFAX – Physicians from across the country spent hours at the Canadian Medical Association’s annual general meeting discussing what their role would entail if asked to assist a patient in dying.

Dozens of physicians took the floor to share their thoughts, concerns and worries over what was morally acceptable and what to do if they had a conscientious objection.

The Supreme Court of Canada struck down the ban on assisted dying in February and gave the federal government one year to create a new law. It will technically be legal for a physician to be involved in assisted dying next year.

Dr. Douglas Maynes, a Halifax psychiatrist who has been practicing for 43 years, said he has concerns about those with mental illness. . . (Full text)

 

Doctors’ Group urges Canadian Medical Association to defend conscience rights on assisted death

News Release

Christian Medical and Dental Society of Canada

HALIFAX, Aug. 24, 2015 /CNW/ – Larry Worthen, Executive Director of the Christian Medical and Dental Society of Canada (CMDS), urged the Canadian Medical Association (CMA), today, to support their members’ freedom of conscience when they meet on Tuesday, August 25th, to consider the CMA’s position on assisted death and conscience rights.

Said Larry Worthen, “Many physicians have moral convictions that will not allow them to participate in medical aid in dying. There should be no discrimination against a physician for her refusal to participate in medical aid in dying for moral or conscience reasons. That is why the Christian Medical and Dental Society of Canada urges the Canadian Medical Association to adopt the third option being presented to them by CMA staff: that physicians have a ‘duty to provide complete information on all options and advise on how to access a separate, central information, counselling and referral service.'”

The Canadian Medical Association will be discussing a policy framework called “Principled Based Approach to Assisted Dying in Canada” at their general council meeting in Halifax on August 25th. Section 5.2 of this document deals with physician conscience protection and assisted death. CMA staff will present four options for dealing with conscientious objection, and delegates will be polled on which option should be included in official CMA policy.

All options deal with the situation in which a physician is not able, for reasons of conscience, to participate in physician-assisted death. The four options are:

  1. Duty to refer directly to a non-objecting physician;
  2. Duty to refer to an independent third party;
  3. Duty to provide complete information on all options and advise on how to access a separate, central information, counselling, and referral service; or
  4. Patient self-referral to a separate central information, counseling, and referral service.

Options ‘1’ and ‘2’ require the objecting physician to refer. Many physicians will have moral convictions that assisted death is never in the best interests of the patient, while others may object to assisted death because of the particular circumstances of the patient. A referral is essentially a recommendation for the procedure, and facilitates its delivery. A requirement to refer means that physicians will be forced to act against their consciences.

Option ‘4’ allows the patient to directly access assisted death, but does not necessarily provide an opportunity for counseling by a physician who has a longer term relationship with the patient.

“Option ‘3’ allows the discussion of all options to occur with the patient and the physician who knows them. If, after considering all of the options, the patient still wants assisted death, the patient may access that directly. This option ensures that all reasonable alternatives are considered. It respects the autonomy of the patient to access all legal services while at the same time protecting physicians’ conscience rights,” added Mr. Worthen.

Option ‘3’ is a summary of a proposal submitted to the CMA by three organizations: the Christian Medical and Dental Society, the Canadian Federation of Catholic Physician Societies, and Canadian Physicians for Life. Taken together, they represent more than 3000 Canadian physicians.

CMDS (Christian Medical and Dental Society) represents some 1600 physicians and dentists across Canada.

See the complete CMDS-CFCPS-CPFL- proposal to the CMA 

 

Turning physicians into executioners

National Post

Sean Murphy*

When the Canadian Medical Association (CMA) convenes in Halifax this month for its Annual General Council, delegates will confront what the CMA’s Dr. Jeff Blackmer has called the biggest change in the medical profession in Canada, maybe in centuries: the legalization of physician-assisted suicide and euthanasia ordered by the Supreme Court of Canada.

Last year, when announcing the intention of the CMA to intervene in the Carter case at the Supreme Court, Dr. Blackmer and CMA President Dr. Louis Hugo Francescutti reflected on what was at stake.

One person’s right is another person’s obligation, and sometimes great burden, they wrote. And in this case, a patient’s right to assisted dying becomes the physician’s obligation to take that patient’s life. . . [Full text]