Physicians’ Alliance Newsletter, June 2021

WORLD NEWS:

World Medical Association (WMA) International Code of Medical Ethics (ICoME) Draft revision

The World Medical Association (WMA) recently held a public consultation on the draft revised version of the International Code of Medical Ethics (ICoME). All experts and stakeholders were invited to submit comments on this draft version until 28 May 2021.

Click below to download:

  1. The Joint Submission of Living With Dignity and the Physicians’ Alliance to the WMA ICoME public consultation
  2. The Protection of Conscience Project submission: Click here to view the submission published on the Social Science Research Network (SSRN).

Kindly note that all submissions to the WMA were to be made in English. However, a courtesy French translation of our submission is available for our members: Soumission au Comité du Code international d’éthique médicale de l’Association médicale mondiale

Click here for the current version of the ICoME and here for the new draft revised version.

CANADIAN NEWS:

Quebec Select Committee on the Evolution of the Act respecting end-of-life care:
As you may recall, the committee was created following a motion proposed by the National Assembly on March 31, 2021, to examine the issues related to extending medical aid in dying to persons who are incapable of caring for themselves and those who are suffering from mental illness.

The first phase of the Select Committee work ended on Friday. The Committee will hold public hearings at the end of the summer, and will submit its report by November 19, 2021.

Following are some interesting Videos, Briefs and news articles from the proceedings of the Special Committee consultations and public hearings on the Evolution of the Act respecting end-of-life care:

COMMENTARIES :

  • Laval University and the Palliative Care Hospice Michel-Sarrazin recently announced the creation of the Palliative Care and End of Life Institute
  • Following is a wise reflection by Prof. Louis-André Richard on the danger of societal complacency and political correctness that slowly leads to the destruction of the culture of palliative care and the regrettable concession to the provision of euthanasia:

Palliative care and medical aid in dying cannot go together (Available in French only: Soins palliatifs et aide médicale à mourir ne peuvent faire bon ménage)

IN THE LITERATURE:

Wei Liu, Luke Liu, Alissa Liu, Sang Jia, Tony Liu, Gabriel Boldt, Melody Qu, and Ian Ball

Journal of Clinical Oncology 2021 39:15_suppl, 12034-12034

The study concluded that Up to 15% of oncology patients choose euthanasia or physician-assisted suicide and that many of these requests are significantly associated with potentially modifiable symptoms including severe nausea, vomiting, and pain.

RESOURCES:

Foreward2 by Margaret Somerville pp. ix —xv

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