{"id":4286,"date":"2019-06-14T13:35:42","date_gmt":"2019-06-14T13:35:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/tvndy.ca\/?p=4286"},"modified":"2019-06-14T15:14:04","modified_gmt":"2019-06-14T15:14:04","slug":"webcast-archive-strong-commentary-in-quebec-press","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/tvndy.ca\/en\/2019\/06\/webcast-archive-strong-commentary-in-quebec-press\/","title":{"rendered":"Webcast archive: Strong commentary in Quebec press"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" width=\"1180\" height=\"664\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/_lgOUTqIFm8?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<div class=\"fluid-width-video-wrapper\"><\/div>\n<p>In this episode of\u00a0<em>Euthanasia &amp; Disability<\/em>, Amy Hasbrouck, Christian Debray, and Taylor Hyatt discuss:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>A strong commentary in the Qu\u00e9bec press<\/li>\n<li>News briefs:\n<ul>\n<li>German nurse and American doctor accused of serial killings<\/li>\n<li>The American Medical Association reaffirms opposition to assisted suicide<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/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>A STRONG COMMENTARY IN THE QU\u00c9BEC PRESS<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\n<li>We\u2019ve often spoken about the pro-euthanasia bias in the mainstream press, especially in Qu\u00e9bec. But on Monday, June 10, the Journal de Montr\u00e9al<a href=\"https:\/\/www.journaldemontreal.com\/2019\/06\/10\/tuer-les-vieux-pour-la-planete\">\u00a0published an article by columnist Lise Ravary<\/a>\u00a0about a disturbing proposal from Dutch politician Corrine Ellemeet, a member of the GreenLeft party. \u00a0In February, Ellemeet\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/eenvandaag.avrotros.nl\/item\/waarom-doorbehandelen-op-je-70e-niet-altijd-een-goed-plan-is\/\">encouraged doctors to think twice<\/a>\u00a0before providing certain medical treatments to people over 70, such as hip replacements or kidney dialysis. The plan was reportedly inspired by some doctors\u2019 tendencies to approve intensive treatment that offered no improvement in quality of life.<\/li>\n<li>In her article, Lise Ravary suggests that \u201cmedical down-sizing\u201d (\u201creducing health care for the elderly, helping the planet and saving money at the same time\u201d) has become a \u201cfad among radical ecologists.\u201d Ms. Ravary notes that, even though people with depression or addictions can be euthanized in the Netherlands, and Belgian authorities \u201cadmit to losing control\u201d of their euthanasia program, other countries still look to these societies as models and trailblazers.<\/li>\n<li>In 2013, Ms. Ravary interviewed Veronique Hivon, the politician who sponsored\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/legisquebec.gouv.qc.ca\/en\/ShowDoc\/cs\/S-32.0001\">Bill 52<\/a>\u00a0in Qu\u00e9bec\u2019s National Assembly. At the time, Ms. Hivon stated that the \u201cend of life\u201d restriction would \u201cprotect us from any slippage.\u201d Yet the Qu\u00e9bec government was already considering\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.lapresse.ca\/actualites\/politique\/201906\/09\/01-5229477-feu-vert-pour-elargir-lacces-a-laide-medicale-a-mourir.php?fbclid=IwAR0GzIXQssDZV29g6w--tKMYkbpS4wtS9Z2g1-VYe0lDOk_WpQIyLWjWX2Q\">the possibility of advance requests<\/a>\u00a0for euthanasia as early as\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/tvndy.ca\/en\/2012\/03\/national-assembly-of-quebec-select-committee-report\/\">2012<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.cmq.org\/publications-pdf\/p-1-2013-03-01-fr-rapport-aide-medicale-a-mourir.pdf\">2013<\/a>. Advance euthanasia requests are usually intended for people with dementia, who will lose the capacity to consent at the time of the lethal injection.<\/li>\n<li>Since one of the first clauses in Bill 52 refers to \u201cthe primacy of freely and clearly expressed wishes with respect to care,\u201d Ms. Ravary cautions against adding this kind of provision on the \u201cback of an envelope.\u201d\n<ul>\n<li>She quotes a Dutch doctor who finds the practice of euthanizing incompetent people \u201cintolerable.\u201d \u201c\u2019You have to kill someone who does not understand what is happening\u2019, who doesn\u2019t remember signing the paper a long time ago, and who isn\u2019t necessarily unhappy?\u201d<\/li>\n<li>The author also questions the social factors that influence the decision to die, including: medical professionals\u2019 fear of causing addictions with powerful pain medication, poor pain management as a result of that fear, the neglect and inhumane conditions in nursing homes, and the desire not to burden loved ones.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li>When times get tough, disadvantaged people (elders and children, poor and disabled people, and racial minorities) become the scapegoats for society\u2019s problems. \u00a0We are described as \u201cuseless,\u201d \u201cscroungers,\u201d and \u201ca waste of resources\u201d in societies that value people for their productivity.<\/li>\n<li>Climate change is starting to put real pressure on the developed world, and as usual, disabled people are <a href=\"https:\/\/tvndy.ca\/en\/2018\/10\/webcast-archive-people-with-disabilities-and-natural-disasters\/\">severely affected<\/a>, and the response often puts disabled people at a\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/tvndy.ca\/en\/2018\/10\/webcast-archive-discrimination-natural-disasters\/\">disadvantage<\/a>. \u00a0For example, disability advocates have spoken out against <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/news\/posteverything\/wp\/2018\/07\/12\/plastic-straw-bans-are-the-latest-policy-to-forget-the-disability-community\/?utm_term=.3f7cf612411a\">bans on drinking straws<\/a>\u00a0designed to cut down on the amount of plastic waste that ends up in landfills and oceans. They point out that, while plastic straws may contribute a small amount to the problem, banning them would require disabled people to plan ahead (by carrying their own straws) in a way non-disabled people don\u2019t have to, or be unable to drink, resulting in a\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.cnn.com\/2018\/07\/11\/health\/plastic-straw-bans-disabled-trnd\/index.html\">\u201cfailure in equity.\u201d<\/a><\/li>\n<li>While taking action to ensure everyone gets good health care and to reduce the negative impact of human activity on the planet, we have to place the responsibility and accountability on the powerful interests which have caused, and continue to benefit from, the consequences of runaway consumerism.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>NEWS BRIEF: FORMER GERMAN NURSE AND AMERICAN DOCTOR ACCUSED OF SERIAL KILLINGS<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\n<li>Former German nurse<a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/world\/2019\/jun\/06\/german-nurse-niels-hogel-second-life-sentence-murder-of-85-patients\">\u00a0Niels Hoegel<\/a>, already serving a life sentence in the deaths of two people in his care, was convicted of the murder of 85 more people on June 6, 2019. During his trial, Hoegel admitted to injecting people with drugs to stop their hearts, then attempting to resuscitate them.<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/ottawacitizen.com\/news\/world\/a-nurse-killed-85-people-by-inducing-cardiac-arrest-and-then-trying-to-resuscitate-them\/wcm\/c5464efd-2153-4524-b571-ba042ba3f8e1?utm_term=Autofeed&amp;utm_medium=Social&amp;utm_source=Twitter#Echobox=1559834267\">Reports suggest<\/a>\u00a0Hoegel was bored and wanted a challenge, that he enjoyed the \u201cgame\u201d of causing cardiac arrests, bringing people back to life, and then being praised for his skill.<\/li>\n<li>Court-appointed psychiatrist Konstantin Karyofilis said Hoegel wanted to \u201cearn the respect of his colleagues\u201d but eventually \u201cstopped seeing his patients as people.\u201d<\/li>\n<li>Closer to home, William Husel, a doctor in Columbus, Ohio,\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.nbcnews.com\/news\/us-news\/ohio-doctor-charged-25-counts-murder-accused-prescribing-excessive-doses-n970026\">faces 25 murder charges<\/a>\u00a0following an investigation by the County prosecutor. He reportedly prescribed \u201cexcessive and potentially fatal doses of opioids,\u201d including fentanyl, for people in the intensive care units of the hospitals where he worked. The state medical board suspended Husel\u2019s medical license in January.<\/li>\n<li>Though Husel\u2019s attorney claims he did not intend \u201cto euthanize anyone,&#8221; prosecutor Ron O&#8217;Brien said the high doses of medication \u201ccould not support any legitimate medical purpose,\u201d because the people who received them were not alert or able to feel pain.<\/li>\n<li>Officials are also concerned about the<a href=\"https:\/\/www.nbcnews.com\/news\/us-news\/ohio-physician-allegedly-ordered-28-people-potentially-fatal-doses-opioid-n962516\">\u00a0failure of safeguards<\/a>\u00a0that lead to the deaths. Electronic red flags designed to point out \u201cquestionable\u201d orders\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.nbcnews.com\/news\/us-news\/ohio-physician-allegedly-ordered-28-people-potentially-fatal-doses-opioid-n962516\">should have alerted pharmacists and nurses<\/a>\u00a0to the high doses ordered by the doctor. Lawyers for the victims\u2019 families are still trying to find out what went wrong.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>NEWS BRIEF: THE AMERICAN MEDICAL ASSOCIATION REAFFIRMS OPPOSITION TO ASSISTED SUICIDE<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\n<li>Delegates at the annual meeting of the American Medical Association voted on Monday to reaffirm the AMA\u2019s opposition to physician assisted suicide.\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.lifesitenews.com\/news\/ama-reaffirms-its-opposition-to-doctor-assisted-suicide-by-huge-majority\">LifeSite News reported<\/a>\u00a0that delegates endorsed the current policy by a margin of 392 to 162. \u00a0The policy states: \u201cPhysician-assisted suicide and euthanasia are fundamentally incompatible with the physician\u2019s role as healer, would be difficult or impossible to control, and would pose serious societal risks.\u201d<\/li>\n<li>The vote comes after years of lobbying by euthanasia proponents encouraging the AMA to take a neutral position on assisted suicide. \u00a0The Council on Ethical and Judicial Affairs chose to\u00a0use the phrase \u201cphysician assisted suicide\u201d because it \u201cdescribes the practice with the greatest precision.\u201d<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n   ","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<div class=\"entry-summary\">\n<div class=\"entry-summary\">\nThis week, we discuss a column in the Journal de Montreal, two serial killer doctors, and new developments at the American Medical Association.\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"link-more\"><a href=\"https:\/\/tvndy.ca\/en\/2019\/06\/webcast-archive-strong-commentary-in-quebec-press\/\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading<span class=\"screen-reader-text\"> &ldquo;Webcast archive: Strong commentary in Quebec press&rdquo;<\/span>&hellip;<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"link-more\"><a href=\"https:\/\/tvndy.ca\/en\/2019\/06\/webcast-archive-strong-commentary-in-quebec-press\/\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading<span class=\"screen-reader-text\"> &ldquo;Webcast archive: Strong commentary in Quebec press&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":[461,282,55,121,535,53,96,118,534],"class_list":["post-4286","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-webcast-archive","tag-advance-requests","tag-belgium","tag-bill-52-en","tag-euthanasia-disability","tag-niels-hogel","tag-quebec-en","tag-safeguards","tag-webcast","tag-william-husel","entry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/tvndy.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4286","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=4286"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/tvndy.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4286\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4292,"href":"https:\/\/tvndy.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4286\/revisions\/4292"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/tvndy.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4286"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tvndy.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4286"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tvndy.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4286"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}