Euthanasia Bill (Canada)

[Morning-glory]

http://www.cbc.ca/canada/ottawa/story/2009/10/01/ottawa-euthanasia-bill-doctors-pereira.html

The legalization of euthanasia and assisted suicide in Canada could reduce the level of care available to those with terminal illnesses, two Ottawa doctors warn.

"We need to improve care, not terminate it," Dr. Jose Pereira told reporters at a news conference Thursday.

Pereira, chief of palliative medicine at the long-term-care hospital Bruyère Continuing Care in Ottawa, specializes in caring for and improving the quality of life for patients who are terminally ill or require long-term care.

He said he is concerned about a private member's bill to legalize euthanasia after his experience in Switzerland, which already allows the practice.

While working at a hospital in Geneva, Pereira said, he noticed that a few months after the hospital began offering assisted suicide, community-based palliative care services were shut down and the number of palliative-care physicians at the hospital was reduced.

Pereira, who is also a University of Ottawa professor who heads the university's palliative-care program, said he is concerned that a similar "social slippery slope" could appear in Canada if Bill C-384 is passed.

Pereira's concerns were echoed by Dr. Jean Bartkowiak, president and CEO at Bruyère.

"We must not abandon these vulnerable people through assisted suicide and euthanasia, but instead embark on a quest to find better ways to maintain their dignity and quality of life," he said. He added that he hears daily about patients recovering from dire situations, and said people should never lose hope.

Bloc Québécois MP Francine Lalonde tabled her private member's right-to-die bill in May 2009. The bill would amend the Criminal Code so a doctor can assist a consenting terminally ill patient or a patient in severe physical or mental pain "without any prospect of relief ... to die with dignity."

'Serious flaws'

Pereira said there are "serious flaws" in the bill:

It isn't limited to people with terminal illnesses, but also mental illnesses.

It allows people to refuse appropriate treatment and choose euthanasia.

It doesn't define "terminal."

It allows people to consent to assisted suicide if they appear to be lucid, a qualification Pereira said is "too ambiguous."

He added that other jurisdictions have found it hard to put in "foolproof safeguards" to prevent people who don't meet the criteria-such as people with depression-to be eligible for euthanasia,

Pereira also expressed concerns about what legalizing euthanasia would mean for doctors.

"It's taking away the right of most physicians to say, 'No, this is not something that we do.'"

A number of other groups have expressed concerns about the bill. Steve Passmore, a spokesman for a group called the Euthanasia Prevention Coalition, believes it represents a threat to people with disabilities, such as himself.

In August, a group of about 100 Quebec doctors submitted a brief to Quebec's College of Physicians urging it to reconsider its proposal to tolerate assisted suicide in "appropriate circumstances."

[Fiona59]

Hmm. Can't find the wording on the actual Bill. So lets see what is wrong with Dr. Ps arguements.

Quebec is a province that continues to have very strong ties to the RC Church. Dr. P is in management of a facility that is in business to provide LONG term care and palliative care. Anyone else see a conflict of interest?

http://www.bruyere.org/bins/content_page.asp?cid=6&lang=1

I've seen patients given six weeks to live due to a terminal illness who spent the last weeks of their lives searching for pain control and asking to have the RIGHT to die. How many of them have have overdosed at home with their meds?

We need to stop thinking with our religious backgrounds and start thinking with our hearts.

If a patient is diagnosed with a terminal cancer that is untreatable and will take their lives within six months, they should have the right to decide when enough is enough.

People aren't lab rats for doctors to try out their experimental treatments on.

But having said all this we all know that the current government couldn't organize a party in a brewery never mind pass a complex piece of legislation. Ignatieff, Harper, and the boys are too busy keeping their jobs to deal with issues that affect "real" people.

[HM2VikingRN, RN]

Personally I believe in the patients right of choice.

I would not participate as a provider but I do believe that patients should have access to the full range of EOL care.

If Parliament consider the bill there should be an amendment to protect patient access to palliative care.

[leslie :-D]

it's hard to comment on this, w/o reading the bill.

i am esp interested in reading its "flaws".

but have a hunch it would be comparable to the existing bills in washington and oregon.

i am hopeful that this 'alternative' is becoming more widespread and universal.

and it sounds like the world may be finally catching on...

that the dying have rights too.

as it should be.

leslie

[MandaTaye]

I don't see why legalizing euthanasia would decrease the quality of palliative care.

And the argument about him seeing patients return from "dire situations". That's wonderful... but, when you're staring at someone who has lung cancer and they're screaming in pain 24/7 are you really going to look them in the face and say, "You can still come around!" I mean, there are miracles, yes...but for those suffering from end-stage terminal cancer...there is not much hope. These are the people I would like to see have access to euthanasia in the United States.

If I had terminal cancer...I would want assistance to make sure that I wouldn't have to go through that horrible last month or two where you're just laying in bed with your eyes open while your family waits for your last breath. That is where the lack of dignity is.

My guess is, if there was any correlation between the legalization of euthanasia and the slump of palliative care.. perhaps it's because so many people who are eligible for palliative care would opt for the assisted euthanasia option.

One can always say that they do not support euthanasia....but that's also because they're not laying in a bed in their own urine, struggling to breathe, and in intense pain. I wonder if their opinion on the subject would change if they were faced with these circumstances.

Pro-Euthanasia...all the way.

Have a wonderful Friday everyone.

[NotReady4PrimeTime, RN]

I've moved this thread from Nursing News to the Canadian Forum in order to preempt the potential for ad hominem posts.

[dishes, BSN, RN]

But having said all this we all know that the current government couldn't organize a party in a brewery never mind pass a complex piece of legislation. Ignatieff, Harper, and the boys are too busy keeping their jobs to deal with issues that affect "real" people.

LOL, couldn't agree more, this will sit on the books for years ... there is no possibility that any of the inept, bumbling, fools in Ottawa can make even a minor decision, never mind tackle this issue.

dishes

[linzz]

Our politicians can't even decide whether or not to have an election, never mind work their way through an issue as large as this.

In regards to this Bill, I do feel that people should have the choice of how and when to die esp. if they are terminally ill. I watched my aunt slowly waste away with terminal cancer and she would never have chosen to endure such pain. JMO.

[5cats]

It's high time to discuss death as a part of the life circle, especially in a country where people who are in the process of dying still have full code status, and some ignorant relatives insist on that and where doctors have no backbone to say no!

5cats