{"id":1645,"date":"2015-10-16T13:18:02","date_gmt":"2015-10-16T13:18:02","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/tvndy.ca\/?p=1645\/"},"modified":"2018-11-07T17:39:34","modified_gmt":"2018-11-07T17:39:34","slug":"webcast-archive-quebecs-college-of-physicians-guide-to-euthanasia","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/tvndy.ca\/en\/2015\/10\/webcast-archive-quebecs-college-of-physicians-guide-to-euthanasia\/","title":{"rendered":"Webcast archive: Qu\u00e9bec\u2019s College of Physicians guide to euthanasia"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" width=\"1180\" height=\"664\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/VbLPaPz1PCg?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>In this episode of <em>Euthanasia &amp; Disability<\/em>, Amy Hasbrouck and Christian Debray discuss:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Qu\u00e9bec\u2019s College of Physicians\u2019 guide to medical aid in dying<\/li>\n<li>A note on the federal election<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Please note that this text is only a script and that our webcast contains additional commentary.<\/p>\n<p><strong>THE QU\u00c9BEC COLLEGE OF PHYSICIANS\u2019 GUIDE TO MEDICAL AID IN DYING* (euphemism for euthanasia)<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Qu\u00e9bec\u2019s law allowing euthanasia will come into effect in less than two months.<\/li>\n<li>Up to now, we\u2019ve only found one set of regulations published in the Official Gazette of Qu\u00e9bec which relates to \u201cmedical aid in dying.\u201d This regulation describes only a part of the changes that will be necessary to implement a \u201ccarefully regulated\u201d euthanasia program<\/li>\n<li>On our webcast of September 11, we mentioned the Qu\u00e9bec College of Physicians\u2019 Guide. We\u2019ve finally got hold of a copy, and would like to let you know about a few important items we found in it.<\/li>\n<li>First, some general observations.\n<ul>\n<li>There is a strong bias toward assisted death. In the document, euthanasia is described as a way to relieve pain.<\/li>\n<li>There is nothing (apart from ethical behaviour) to prevent a doctor from falsifying the request form of someone with a communication disability, obtaining a rubber-stamp approval from a second doctor, obtaining the lethal dosage from a pharmacist, performing the euthanasia and producing a report of an apparently legitimate process.<\/li>\n<li>There is no provision for the forms or the process to be accessible to people with sensory or communication disabilities, such as access to neutral scribes and interpreters, documents in accessible formats, etc.<\/li>\n<li>There is no provision to prevent a third person who fills out a form on someone\u2019s behalf) from being a member of the family or exerting undue influence, or having an interest in the property of the person making the \u201crequest\u201d.<\/li>\n<li>Will all physicians be allowed to perform euthanasia, (including podiatrists, dermatologists, plastic surgeons) or just general practitioners?<\/li>\n<li>The guide states that on average, a doctor would perform euthanasia less than once per year. With 22,500 doctors in Qu\u00e9bec, do they expect maybe 22,000 deaths?<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li>The guide indicates that the doctor who makes the decision about the euthanasia request will be the \u201ctreating physician.\u201d But who will decide for the 25% of Qu\u00e9b\u00e9cois who don\u2019t have a family doctor?<\/li>\n<li>Several of the kinds of \u201csuffering\u201d named could apply to people in abusive relationships, or who are depressed. For example, \u201ctotal dependence\u201d and \u201cthe feeling of desperation in the face of a hopeless situation\u201d both characterize battered women\u2019s syndrome.\u00a0 As well, chemical imbalance of depression can create the false impression that there is no escape from one\u2019s problems.\u00a0 Are we going to kill people because they have a chemical imbalance in their brains?\u00a0 Will social interventions be sufficient?<\/li>\n<li>The guide states that the person \u201cis the best judge of her\/his tolerance of suffering and of the means to relieve that suffering.\u201d But what should be done when ignorance, a lack of resources, and prejudices interfere with that judgment.\u00a0 What will she do if the doctor has only offered medical, and not social alternatives?\u00a0 What will she do if appropriate palliative care is not available in her area, or a therapist has shown prejudice toward her as a person who is ill or disabled?\u00a0 Is she really in the best position to evaluate her options under the circumstances?<\/li>\n<li>The guide often makes references to \u201can interdisciplinary team who assists the patient.\u201d Is this realistic when 25% of Qu\u00e9b\u00e9cois don\u2019t even have a family doctor?\u00a0 Are these teams destined to become Death Doctors?<\/li>\n<li>The same principle applies to the vision for mental and spiritual health care at the end of life. The guide says that the person should receive \u201ca specific, multidimensional therapeutic approach (listening, spiritual and religious support, psychotherapy, pharmacology, social intervention, etc.).\u201d\u00a0 Is this likely to happen when palliative care Is only available to 16-30% of the population?<\/li>\n<li>The guide continues in the tradition of not defining \u201cend of life.\u201d It describes the signs for three \u201cphases\u201d of end of life:\n<ul>\n<li>The terminal diagnosis stage can extend from a week to eight years.\n<ul>\n<li>People with cancer \u2013 a few months<\/li>\n<li>People with pulmonary or circulatory diseases, from 2 to 5 years<\/li>\n<li>Elderly people and those with fragile health, from 6 to 8 years.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li>The signs of a very advanced and progressive illness, advancing rapidly toward death \u2013 less than four days<\/li>\n<li>The signs of imminent death, alteration of vital signs \u2013 less than 24 hours.<\/li>\n<li>One of the signs given for a terminal prognosis is delirium, which should automatically disqualify a person for euthanasia.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li>We\u2019ll resume our discussion of the physicians&#8217; guide next week<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>COMMENTARY: ASSISTED SUICIDE AND THE 2015 ELECTION<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Around 15 percent of the population of Canada, 5 million people, have a physical or mental condition that substantially limits major life activities due in large part to barriers in the environment.\u00a0 The number of people who are directly affected by disability \u2013 family, friends and service providers \u2013 is much larger.<\/p>\n<p>One hundred percent of those who ask for and receive assisted suicide have a disability, whether or not they also have a terminal or degenerative illness.<\/p>\n<p>On the other hand, less than 1,000 Muslims in Canada wear the niqab or burqa.<\/p>\n<p>So why has the hijab become an election issue, while none of the political parties has taken a clear position on the issues of palliative care, in-home services or assisted suicide?<\/p>\n<p>Disability is the only minority group that any person can join at any time.\u00a0 Disabled people face high rates of unemployment, institutionalization and violence, because of discriminatory social policies and prejudice.<\/p>\n<p>The most common reasons people ask for assisted suicide \u2013 loss of autonomy, inability to do activities they enjoyed, perceived loss of dignity, feeling like a burden \u2013 relate not to dying, but to how people with disabilities are treated in our society.<\/p>\n<p>According to the Canadian Hospice and Palliative Care Association, only 16-30% of Canadians have access to hospice and palliative care.\u00a0 The solution chosen by the government \u2013 assisted suicide \u2013 is to kill people because society won\u2019t provide the services necessary so people can live well and in comfort until they die at home.<\/p>\n<p>Maybe we should re-examine our priorities during this electoral campaign.<\/p>\n<p>(Don\u2019t forget to vote!)<\/p>\n   ","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<div class=\"entry-summary\">\n<div class=\"entry-summary\">\nThis week, we discuss the new guide for physicians performing &#8220;MAID&#8221; released by the Quebec College of Physicians.\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"link-more\"><a href=\"https:\/\/tvndy.ca\/en\/2015\/10\/webcast-archive-quebecs-college-of-physicians-guide-to-euthanasia\/\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading<span class=\"screen-reader-text\"> &ldquo;Webcast archive: Qu\u00e9bec\u2019s College of Physicians guide to euthanasia&rdquo;<\/span>&hellip;<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"link-more\"><a href=\"https:\/\/tvndy.ca\/en\/2015\/10\/webcast-archive-quebecs-college-of-physicians-guide-to-euthanasia\/\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading<span class=\"screen-reader-text\"> &ldquo;Webcast archive: Qu\u00e9bec\u2019s College of Physicians guide to euthanasia&rdquo;<\/span>&hellip;<\/a><\/div>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[92],"tags":[121,62,372,40,96,101,118],"class_list":["post-1645","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-webcast-archive","tag-euthanasia-disability","tag-palliative-care","tag-physician","tag-quebec","tag-safeguards","tag-suicide","tag-webcast","entry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/tvndy.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1645","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/tvndy.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/tvndy.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tvndy.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tvndy.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1645"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/tvndy.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1645\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3765,"href":"https:\/\/tvndy.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1645\/revisions\/3765"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/tvndy.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1645"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tvndy.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1645"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tvndy.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1645"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}