2023-08-25 21:13:35
(Montreal) Even though the number of patients seeking medical assistance in dying (MAID) continues to increase, the College of Physicians of Quebec notes that some doctors in the province are afraid to perform this procedure because of the threat of professional sanctions
Doctors regularly contact the professional order to express their concern regarding the provision of end-of-life treatments, Mauril Gaudreault, president of the College of Physicians of Quebec, said in an interview on Friday.
“We are talking regarding doctors who are afraid of possible reprisals, for example that one of their files is the subject of an investigation by the College of Physicians of Quebec,” he said.
Dr Gaudreault spoke publicly on Friday in defense of his members following the president of the Quebec Commission for End-of-Life Care – an independent body that oversees MAID and reports to the National Assembly – said earlier that months that an increasing number of MAID cases were pushing the boundaries of the law.
The Dr Michel Bureau, president of the Commission on End-of-Life Care, issued a note warning that Quebecers no longer consider MAID a last resort. He said he expects more than 7% of deaths in Quebec this year to be medically assisted. – more than anywhere else in the world. The Dr Bureau went so far as to suggest that the way MAID is administered in the province might begin to deviate from the spirit of the law.
In response to D.r Office, the Dr Gaudreault released an open letter on Friday saying the College does not believe MAID is being offered too frequently and that some doctors are concerned regarding using the procedure because of the risk of being investigated by the College. .
PHOTO MARCO CAMPANOZZI, LA PRESSE ARCHIVES
Mauril Gaudreault, President of the College of Physicians of Quebec
“For the College of Physicians, it is clear that MA is not too [souvent] allowed, says the president in the letter. And besides, too often compared to what? On what useful and scientific basis [le Dr Bureau] does he rely here to suggest that? »
The Dr Gaudreault said in an interview that more than 99.5% of MAID procedures administered over the past year have been deemed compliant by the Dr Desk. “We are therefore talking regarding only… 0.4% which might have been deemed non-compliant”, reiterates the president.
In the Commission’s 2022 report on end-of-life care, which covered a period between the spring of 2021 and the spring of 2022, it was indicated that 15 of the 3,663 physician-assisted deaths in Quebec were not carried out in the conditions laid down by law.
The Dr Gaudreault said those 15 cases were reported to the College for review and none of them resulted in disciplinary notices to physicians. As the commission examines each MAID case and refers problematic cases to the College, Quebec has the strictest safeguards in the world for this practice, he pointed out.
In his letter, the Dr Gaudreault says that given the province’s aging population, widespread awareness of this practice, and the removal of the requirement that people must be at the end of life to receive MAID, it makes sense that more Quebecers seek to end their lives with the help of a doctor.
There has also been a marked increase in the number of people forgoing aggressive treatments and not wanting to die of incurable diseases, he added.
A fear that limits access to MAID
The Dr Georges L’Espérance, president of the Quebec Association for the Right to Die with Dignity, a pro-MAD advocacy group, said he believed the commission’s memo intimidated doctors.
“A large number of doctors are very afraid of the response of the Commission on End-of-Life Care and, in particular, of its president (Dr Desk). So they refuse to assess patients,” explained Dr.r L’Espérance in an interview on Friday.
“There are doctors who started providing medical assistance in dying and stopped because of feared reprisals,” he said.
Dr L’Espérance said fear among doctors is limiting people’s access to MAID.
PHOTO RÉMI SÉNÉCHAL, SPECIAL COLLABORATION ARCHIVES.
The Dr Georges L’Espérance, President of the Quebec Association for the Right to Die with Dignity
The growing number of MAID cases in Quebec does not concern Dr L’Espérance, who says the practice is widely accepted in the province.
“If people want to die at the time of their choice, among their loved ones, why not? Why do we have to wait until the end of life with suffering, sickness, deterioration to obtain some liberation? asks the doctor.
While palliative care can address physical suffering, it cannot address the psychological and existential suffering that patients experience while waiting to die, D said.r Hope…
He thinks we need more doctors – including those who have administered MAID – on the provincial end-of-life commission.
The commission declined to comment on the College’s letter on Friday.
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