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In the wake of the SCC’s Carter v. Canada, the National Post has queried whether doctors in Canada will be trained to ensure that the doctor-assisted deaths they are now permitted to provide will be as humane as possible.
The article considers the “assisted suicide” legislation already in place in Oregon, the prosed legislation in Québec, and the current practice in the Netherlands. It then raises questions about the appropriate standard of care that should apply to physician-assisted deaths, and reviews some (appalling) examples of physician-assisted deaths and euthanasia that were not successful.
To learn more about the emerging view of the Canadian medical profession regarding physician-assisted death, readers with access to the Canadian Medical Journal should read Laura Eggertson’s article, Most palliative physicians want no role in assisted death, CMAJApril 7, 2015 vol. 187 no. 6 E177.
To read more about the Carter decision, read the Whaley blog post here.
To read more about the Quebec and Oregon legislation, read our blog post.
