Close X
Saturday, November 30, 2024
ADVT 
National

Doctors debate end-of-life care at Canadian Medical Association meeting

Darpan News Desk Canadian Press, 19 Aug, 2014 10:40 AM
    End-of-life care is a hot topic of discussion today at the annual conference of the Canadian Medical Association.
     
    Long lines of physicians and palliative-care experts queued up to share their own experiences and opinions about how end-of-life conditions for ailing Canadians should change as the population ages.
     
    One rural doctor said family pets and farm animals that are dying are often treated in a more humane and dignified manner than their human owners at the end of life.
     
    Another urged family physicians to start taking on palliative care, saying it shouldn't be handed off to specialists as their longtime patients age and face life-threatening illnesses.
     
    Others suggested some Canadians wouldn't be clamouring for euthanasia and assisted suicide with such passion if Canada had a better standard of palliative care.
     
    The session ended with CMA members voting overwhelmingly in favour of an advisory resolution that supports the right of all physicians, within the bonds of existing legislation, to follow their conscience when deciding whether to provide so-called "medical aid in dying."
     
    The CMA defines "medical aid in dying" as, essentially, euthanasia or physician-assisted suicide.

    MORE National ARTICLES

    NDP's controversial satellite-office expenses offside, Commons committee rules

    NDP's controversial satellite-office expenses offside, Commons committee rules
    The committee that oversees House of Commons spending says the Opposition New Democrats owe a "significant" sum for salaries improperly paid to aides who worked out of satellite party offices in Quebec.

    NDP's controversial satellite-office expenses offside, Commons committee rules

    Monument to missing, murdered aboriginal woman unveiled in Winnipeg

    Monument to missing, murdered aboriginal woman unveiled in Winnipeg
    A small monument to missing and murdered aboriginal women has been unveiled in Winnipeg.

    Monument to missing, murdered aboriginal woman unveiled in Winnipeg

    Toronto police chief serves Rob Ford's brother with defamation notice

    Toronto police chief serves Rob Ford's brother with defamation notice
    Toronto's police chief has filed a defamation notice against Mayor Rob Ford's brother for comments the city councillor made earlier this month.

    Toronto police chief serves Rob Ford's brother with defamation notice

    First Nations health officials to start salmon testing after B.C. mine spill

    First Nations health officials to start salmon testing after B.C. mine spill
    LIKELY, B.C. - First Nations health officials are preparing to test salmon near the site of a massive mine tailing spill in British Columbia amid fears in aboriginal communities that fish from affected lakes and rivers aren't safe to eat.

    First Nations health officials to start salmon testing after B.C. mine spill

    Bloc MP Fortin quits; says the party no longer exists under new leader

    Bloc MP Fortin quits; says the party no longer exists under new leader
    Bloc Quebecois MP Jean-Francois Fortin quit the party Tuesday, accusing its new leader of being divisive and radical.

    Bloc MP Fortin quits; says the party no longer exists under new leader

    Wildfire Closes Regional B.C. Highway as Dry Conditions Mean More Campfire Bans

    Wildfire Closes Regional B.C. Highway as Dry Conditions Mean More Campfire Bans
    VANCOUVER - A wildfire has closed a section of Highway 20 west of Alexis Creek in B.C.'s Cariboo region.

    Wildfire Closes Regional B.C. Highway as Dry Conditions Mean More Campfire Bans