Tag: Ontario Medical Association

UPDATED: Ontario doctors must refer for abortions, says College of Physicians

The Catholic Register

Michael Swan

TORONTO – Despite an overwhelmingly negative response from members of the public, physicians and organizations during a three-month online consultation, the Ontario College of Physicians and Surgeons voted 21-3 to force doctors to refer for abortions, contraception and other legal treatments or procedures even if they have moral or religious objections.

A last-minute submission from the Ontario Medical Association urging the college not to force doctors to act directly against their moral or religious convictions failed to sway the governing council of the college to reconsider wording that demands doctors provide “an effective referral to another health-care provider” despite personal convictions, whether religious or moral.

The college did not provide a statistical breakdown of the 16,000 submissions it received online, other than to say that 90 per cent were from members of the public and most were against the policy. . . [Full text]

Submission to the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario

Re: Professional Obligations and Human Rights

Ontario Medical Association

The Ontario Medical Association is grateful for the opportunity to provide comments on the College’s draft policy Professional Obligations and Human Rights. The OMA undertook a broad member consultation to gather views on the draft policy. The OMA Board deliberated extensively on the draft policy and the implications it could have for physicians’ freedom of conscience. This Association struggles with endorsing the draft policy which, although progressive in its efforts to ensure patient access, forces physicians to take actions that may conflict with their fundamental beliefs. We disagree that enforcing a single, strict ‘rule’ governing physician behaviour when it comes to an issue as personal as moral or religious beliefs is feasible. We suggest that the College withdraw the current draft and undertake further study, particularly given the direct comment on point in the recent Supreme Court decision in Carter v. Canada.

Both patients and physicians are protected under the Ontario Human Rights Code as well as the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. That being the case, it is imperative that the policy does not undermine a physician’s right to freedom of conscience. Furthermore, the decision emphasized the need to reconcile patient and physician protections. The draft policy has not reconciled these protections since an “effective referral” (an affirmative action that contributes to the outcome) cannot be said to address the physician’s right to freedom of conscience. This recent Supreme Court decision provides further evidence that the policy must have flexibility in terms of the options available to physicians who are unable to provide services because of moral or religious beliefs.

We propose that this policy not focus on forcing physicians to perform services to which they object. Instead, the policy should focus on improving information about and access to alternative options. The OMA believes that in circumstances where the physician is unable to personally provide medical services, he or she must not impede the patient in accessing those services elsewhere. The issue of access when it comes to contentions medical services is a complex one that will require stakeholder collaboration to develop a more nuanced approach “Effective referral” represents only one tool – a fairly blunt one at that – we can use to resolve these conflicts. The policy should contemplate intermediate options. For example, the College might allow physicians to post general information about their scope of practice in a visible place for all patients. Another option would be for the policy to allow physicians to make generic referrals to third party organizations or agencies that maintain information about service providers. Incorporating any of these approaches would require further discussion.

We understand that the goal of this policy is to protect patient dignity and ensure patients can access the medical services they seek and we support that aim. However, we believe the College will have more success in achieving its goal if physicians are not forced to comply with a rigid process that may present serious moral dilemmas and diminish their dignity. In reassessing this draft policy, we urge the CPSO to consider the fact that physicians are also protected under the Code and that the College will be obliged to consider the Code when determining whether physicians’ conduct is consistent with the College’s expectations.

Thank you for considering these comments.

Canadian Medical Association softens stand on assisted suicide

Globe and Mail

André Picard

The Canadian Medical Association, which has a long-standing policy saying doctors should not participate in euthanasia or assisted suicide, is substantially softening its stance.

Delegates to the organization’s general council decided Tuesday that the CMA now “supports the right of all physicians, within the bounds of existing legislation, to follow their conscience when deciding whether to provide medical aid in dying.”

The carefully crafted position is an acknowledgment that, while assisting death is still a crime in Canada, the attitudes of Canadians, including those of physicians, are changing quickly, and so is the law.

While the group’s official policy has not changed, “it’s only a matter of time,” said Louis Francescutti, outgoing president of the CMA. Dr. Francescutti said the “conscience” resolution, which was adopted by an overwhelming 91 per cent of delegates, means that the CMA supports a doctor’s right to refuse to hasten the death of a terminally ill patient, but it will also support a doctor’s right to hasten death if the law allows.[Full text]

 

Controversy over doctors’ right to say “no”

The most controversial issues relate to abortion referrals or prescribing birth control.

CMAJ September 16, 2014 186:E483-E484; published ahead of print August 18, 2014

Wendy Glauser

Religious groups, doctor’s organizations, ethicists and abortion rights advocates are raising concerns around the review of an Ontario policy that outlines, among other things, physicians’ right to object to patients’ requests for services on moral grounds.

The College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario’s Physicians and Ontario Human Rights Code is up for its five-year review, with both public and expert opinion being sought.

On one side of the spectrum, faith groups and especially Catholic organizations are asking that the current policy  –  which allows physicians to opt out of non-emergency services they conscientiously object to  –  shouldn’t be amended.

While the policy covers any potential objection, the ones most discussed in the media have been related to abortion referrals or prescribing of birth control. [Full text]

Submission to the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario

General Practice Section, Ontario Medical Association

Re: Human Rights Code Policy

Dear College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario,

The Section on General and Family Practice appreciates the opportunity to provide  comment on the College’s Physicians and the Ontario Human Rights Code policy that is currently being reviewed.

This policy provides important guidance to physicians on sensitive matters and has generated a great deal of interest and discussion amongst our members since it has come up for review. Overall, the Section feels that the policy in its current form seems to strike a reasonable balance between the moral and religious beliefs of physicians and the legal obligations and professional expectations related to the medical services they provide and has served the profession well since it was approved in 2008.

Essentially, the Section feels that we as physicians are professionals. We communicate with our patients on the complex issues they bring to us and we use our best judgement in making decisions around care together with our patients. The system and communities that we work in have well established networks with our other provider colleagues that enable us to provide the care our patients require when that need falls outside of our ability to provide that care as individual physicians.

Since this policy has come up for review, there have been significant concerns raised amongst our members that tighter guidelines will be placed upon physicians requiring them to provide types of care that conflict with their own personal morals and beliefs. This has led to a number of concerns being raised as to the possible outcomes related to any potential changes to this policy that would be more onerous on physicians. Questions that have come to our attention from our members include the following.

  • Are we slowly heading to a system where individuals looking to enter the medical profession will be required to leave their moral and religious beliefs behind when they accept entry?
  • What about more remote areas of practice? Will more prescriptive policies drive physicians to feel that they will have no choice but to practice in more urban settings?
  • What happens if a physician becomes fearful for safety in their office due to the extreme nature of a particular patient’s behaviour or uncomfortable with a patient who refuses to respect the rules of a physician’s office that may or may not be related to an underlying medical condition? Will the physician lose the ability to end the doctor-patient relationship?
  • Will a stricter policy make it more difficult to manage inappropriate patient demands such as those for narcotic pain medications as it may be construed by some patients as a denial based on discrimination.

College policies can have far-reaching impact above and beyond regulation of physicians in practice. As such, they need to be carefully thought out. A more strict approach to Physicians and the Human Rights Code could lead to situations where well qualified students are, in a sense, denied entry into medical school because of a potential inability to honour their personal, socially accepted religious beliefs due to patient demand. The Section believes it is important to ensure that the public continues to have access to care from the best and brightest minds and we are concerned that quality could suffer if we only accept medical students who are willing to compromise their personal values. At the same time, the Section is well aware of recent items in the media that might compel the College to consider changes to the current policy that would place more onerous expectations upon physicians to personally provide any and all treatment even when it is in direct conflict with their own personal morals and beliefs. However, the Section is not aware that there has been a pattern of complaints that relate to this matter that would document a more significant underlying or systemic problem in this area. As such, it would seem that the policy in its current form is adequate.

An area that was identified as a potential area to be improved upon is in regards to the definition of “disability” within the context of this policy. Mental illness has been raised as an example of a medical condition or disability that has a wide range of expression. It is felt that there may be some room to better define disability or provide some guidance to allow for the use of professional judgement when it comes to disability and a physician’s ability to safely and appropriately provide care in their work environment.

Finally, a significant area for consideration has been raised about the importance of having clarity in regards to complaints being dealt with through the Ontario Human Rights Commission and the role of the College. Physicians are always exposed to the risk that the decisions they make will be challenged by a complaint to the OHRC. If there is a complaint against a physician to the OHRC, this should be allowed to run its course without necessitating involvement of the College. The College should not become involved in additional areas outside of its jurisdiction. For complaints that come to both the OHRC and the College, the College policy should clarify when the College steps aside and waits to assess whether issues of professional conduct remain after the OHRC has made its decision.

The Section feels that the policy in its current form seems to give appropriate guidance to physicians in regards to our legal obligations and our professional expectations but also does not place physicians in an unreasonable position of being forced to provide certain care if it conflicts with their own moral and religious beliefs. The ability for physicians to say “no” without retribution must be preserved as long as those decisions are not based on discrimination. In the rare instance that an individual physician’s professional conduct is felt to clearly fall outside of what is deemed to be reasonable, then the policy in its current form has sufficient substance to be able to deal with those individual situations.

The Section understands that this request for feedback is a preliminary consultation that is meant to assist the College as it begins its work to update this policy so we look forward to the opportunity to review the outcome of this work and once again provide input when it is recirculated for further comment.

General Practice Section
Ontario Medical Association