[Right_to_die] Doctors in Quebec supportive of right to die

[World right-to-die news list (nonprofit)]

The Montreal Gazette reported 16 Feb 10:

Doctors back 'right to die'

Consultation; But MDs oppose assisted suicide

By KEVIN DOUGHERTY,

Euthanasia is already a reality in Quebec hospitals, the president of 
the federation of Quebec medical specialists, told a National Assembly 
committee yesterday.

Doctors know when death is "imminent and inevitable," Gaétan Barrette 
explained.

But doctors are aware they can be charged with murder if they administer 
a "palliative sedative" before a patient is on his or her last breath.

Geoffrey Kelley, chairman of the committee, explained that MNAs will 
hear about 30 expert witnesses on "dying with dignity" to prepare a 
paper for a travelling public consultation this fall.

Barrette told the committee the issue of euthanasia could not be 
discussed in Quebec 50 years ago, comparing it with the evolution in 
thinking about abortion.

"Doctors are ready to debate euthanasia," Barrette said. And like 
abortion, he said, limits must be established. Not every patient will 
want euthanasia and not all doctors will agree to perform the procedure.

Barrette explained that a patient who is lucid consults with a doctor, 
friends and family members before requesting euthanasia.

For patients who are not lucid, a biological will can guide relatives 
who must decide.

The patient could have a terminal disease, like cancer. And patients at 
the "end of life" could be babies born with serious medical difficulties 
or seniors whose bodies are shutting down, one system after another.

"It's a cascade," Barrette said. "We can't invent it. We see it. There 
are safeguards."

Barrette said palliative care, using opiates to ease the pain, is also 
an important facet of end-of-life care.

"The choice of the patient is his choice," he said. "We want legislation 
in tune with the wishes of the public."

Polls indicate a high percentage of Quebecers favour euthanasia, 
including doctors.

But Barrette and Yves Lamontagne of the Quebec College of Physicians 
told the committee that doctors do not want to perform assisted suicides.

"We are not there to execute people," Lamontagne said.

Euthanasia, the decision to end life when death is imminent and 
inevitable, is "extremely complex and emotionally charged," Lamontagne 
added.

Yves Robert, secretary of the College, told the committee that Quebec is 
the only jurisdiction in Canada where patients can refuse medical 
treatment, which can lead to death.

"It doesn't exist elsewhere in Canada," Robert said. "We are ahead. Can 
we go farther?"