Pain Medicine and Palliative Care as an Alternative to Euthanasia in End-of-life Cancer Care
Michael Erdek Patients suffering from terminal cancer often have pain. Some have advocated euthanasia or physician-assisted suicide as a potential way of alleviating this suffering. Further examination of this topic, however, shows this approach may be essentially utilitarian and fail to consider the inherent value of human life. There has been significant development in recent […]
Lack of Palliative Care is a Failure in Too Many MaiD Requests
Romayne Gallagher When a person with a failing organ, stroke or other chronic life-limiting disease has persistent suffering that goes untreated, they can become depressed and hopeless. It’s a common pathway to severe distress that can lead people to request Medical Assistance in Dying (MAiD). This is a medical error. The error is not in […]
Medical Aid in Dying: What Matters Most?
Peter Tanuseputro With the passing of Bill C-14, Canadians who are mentally competent adults suffering from a grievous and irremediable medical condition may now seek medical aid in dying. The policy has already resulted in ripples of controversy. For example, some large faith-based hospitals currently do not allow medical aid in dying on their premises, […]
Scheduled to Die: The Rise of Canada’s Assisted Suicide Program
Rupa Subramanya … When we think of assisted suicide or euthanasia, we imagine a limited number of elderly people with late-stage cancer or advanced ALS in severe pain. The argument for helping them die is clear: Death is imminent. Why should they be forced to suffer? In 2015, Canada’s Supreme Court ruled that assisted suicide […]
