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Maintaining humanity at the heart of pediatric care…

Dear friends,

Euthanasia (MAID) was originally sold to the public, and to our profession, as an extraordinary response to a request made by a competent adult whose death was at hand, and whose unbearable suffering could be relieved (so it was said) by no other means. But the intention to rapidly extend the practice of euthanasia well beyond those limits was evident from the beginning. Along with currently contested access for psychiatric conditions, by advance request and when natural death is not reasonably foreseeable, we now find a proposal for extension of euthanasia to children (“mature minors”).

The question of euthanasia for capable pediatric patients was referred to the Canadian Council of Academies (CCA) after Bill C-14 was adopted, with a report expected in late 2018. A good indication of what the likely CCA findings will be, can be found in a paper originating from a working group at the Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto. Continue reading editorial…

Make euthanasia unimaginable.

Sincerely,

Catherine Ferrier

President

• Some members of the Physicians’ Alliance against Euthanasia were present at the recent World Medical Association (WMA) General Assembly in Reykjavik. A press conference representing the Alliance was held on October 2, 2018: Canadian Physicians Won’t Kill
• We have already sent you the major news from the General Assembly, the withdrawal of the Canadian Medical Association (CMA) / Royal Dutch Medical Association (RDMA) motion that the WMA take a “neutral” stance on euthanasia:
  • Report from Reykjavik
  • More news from the WMA
• Here are more comments on that event:
  • From the Canadian Jewish news: Israeli doctor apologizes to Canadian Medical Association, after being accused of plagiarism
  • From the Catholic Register: Euthanasia snub led to Canadian withdrawal from the World Medical Association, doctor says
  • From the BC Catholic: The CMA has a beam in its eye (With a reference made to the Physicians’ Alliance).
  • Canadians and Dutch fail to shift World Medical Association opposition to euthanasia by Michael Cook

Doctor’s voices 

• Dr Damiaan Denys, Is Euthanasia Psychiatric Treatment? The Struggle With Death on Request in the Netherlands, American Journal of Psychiatry.
• Dr. Mark S. Komrad. An Open Letter to Representatives of the World Medical Association
• Dr. Mark S. Komrad. A Psychiatrist Visits Belgium: The Epicenter of Psychiatric Euthanasia
• As a personal initiative, some of our members sent out a press release on October 23rd, 2018, to warn the Spanish Parliament about euthanasia.
  Here is the English translation of the original press release published in Spanish: Canadian physicians warn the Spanish Parliament about euthanasia

In the news 

• This month, Toronto’s largest pediatric hospital, The Hospital for Sick Children announced that they were preparing policies and procedures for euthanasia, for youth over 18 years of age.
• Here are a few media reports:
  • Toronto’s Sick Kids hospital preparing policy for euthanasia for youth over 18 that could one day apply to minors (Montreal Gazette)
  • SickKids grapples with medically assisted dying (CTVnews)
  • Canadian Hospital May Soon Euthanize Kids — Without Parental Consent (Nancy Flory, The Stream)
• Almost all Canadians would benefit from palliative care. Only one in seven can actually access it at end-of-life
  André Picard, a columnist for the Globe and Mail comments on the tragic state of access to Palliative care in Canada. “Canada is known globally as a leader in palliative care theory, but sadly it fails far too often in practice.” He identifies financial and philosophical commitment as a key element to addressing patients’ needs for timely access to palliative care and stresses that “The whole point of palliative care is to improve quality of life. We shouldn’t let bureaucratic and structural inadequacies undermine that necessary and noble work.”
•  The Belgium Federal Commission Report (2016-2017) on the Control and Evaluation of Euthanasia offers alarming evidence of the high rates of euthanasia in Belgium since its legalization.
•  Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s Statement on National Seniors Day, October 1, 2018: “We have also committed $6 billion in funding to provinces for better home care, including palliative care, and taken steps to create safer, more accessible, and affordable housing, so more Canadians, including seniors, have a comfortable place to call home.”
•  A report from Island Health shows that Vancouver Island records highest rate of assisted death in Canada
•  The new president at the Collège des médecins du Québec (CMQ): The administrators of the Collège des médecins du Québec (CMQ) elected their new president: Dr Mauril Gaudreault, a family physician, who is now head of the Board of Directors of the professional order.
• Elections for the Board of Directors at the Collège des médecins du Québec (CMQ)- Results of the vote in the Metropolitan region: The following candidates were re-elected for a new four-year term on the Board of Directors of the CMQ:
  1. Nathalie Saad (12720), Pulmonology
  2. Francine Mathieu-Millae (74470), Ophthalmology
  3. Martin Laliberté (86292), Emergency medicine
  4. Véronique Phan (01310), Pediatrics and Nephrology

For detailed results please visit the CMQ website.

If you have an article, letter or interview relevant to our work published in any media, please let us know at info@collectifmedecins.org.

From the trenches

• Aubert Martin gives an incisive analysis on how euthanasia was sold to Quebecers, and the explosion of deaths since the law came into effect: Aubert Martin: Conférence à l’APCQ
• An informative French debate on assisted suicide and euthanasia, with guest speakers: Tugdual Derville, of the Alliance VITA and Jacqueline Henkel, a 75year old woman, who ‘appears to be in good health’ who has publicly chosen the date of her death (January 2020). Débat: Tugdual Derville VS Jacqueline Henkel

Resources

• Recipes for patients in palliative care (In French): A collection of recipes compiled by the L’Institut de tourisme et d’hôtellerie du Québec (ITHQ) of Montreal and a palliative care home in France, La Maison. Courtesy of the McGill, 22^nd International Congress on Palliative Care that took place in Montreal, earlier this month. Bon Appétit!

In the literature 

• Journal of Palliative Medicine Vol. 21, No. 10 Special Reports. White Paper for Global Palliative Care Advocacy: Recommendations from a PAL-LIFE Expert Advisory Group of the Pontifical Academy for Life, Vatican City Carlos Centeno, Thomas Sitte, Liliana de Lima, Sami Alsirafy, Eduardo Bruera, Mary Callaway, Kathleen Foley, Emmanuel Luyirika, Daniela Mosoiu, Katherine Pettus, Christina Puchalski, M.R. Rajagopal, Julianna Yong, Eduardo Garralda, John Y. Rhee, and Nunziata Comoretto.
  This white paper represents a position statement of the Pontifical Academy for Life developed through a consensus process in regard to advocacy strategies for the advancement of palliative care in the world.
• Journal of Medical Ethics Published Online: 28 September 2018. Towards a palliative care approach in psychiatry: do we need a new definition?
  Lindblad, A., Helgesson, G. and Sjöstrand, M.
  The authors propose that there is a need for a palliative approach for certain psychiatric patients, and propose a definition for “palliative psychiatry”.
• Journal of Advanced Nursing, 16 October 2018. Nurses’ use of conscientious objection and the implications for conscience. Lamb, Christina et al,.
• ​​​​​​​Annals of Internal Medicine, October 2, 2018. Petrosky E et al,. Chronic Pain Among Suicide Decedents, 2003 to 2014: Findings From the National Violent Death Reporting System.
  The increase in suicide among persons suffering from chronic pain could also be reflected in requests for assisted suicide or euthanasia.

If you come across articles that could be of interest to colleagues in the Alliance please send the reference to info@collectifmedecins.org.

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