XPost: can.politics, bc.politics, ont.politics   
   XPost: ab.politics   
   From: ConsRCons@govt.cda   
      
   Postmedia News | 13/08/17   
      
      
   ‘Parliament of medicine’ could revisit stance on euthanasia as Canadians   
   struggle with end-of-life decisions   
      
      
   The incoming president of the Canadian Medical Association says the time   
   may have come for the powerful doctors’ group to revisit its stance on   
   euthanasia.   
      
   Dr. Louis Hugo Francescutti says more doctors appear ready to have the   
   same frank conversation many Canadians are being forced to have, as baby   
   boomers watch their parents’ end-of-life struggles, and consider their   
   own future.   
      
   The organization officially opposes euthanasia and doctor-assisted   
   suicide in a policy that has not been updated since 2007.   
      
   But every policy is a snapshot of the thinking of the time, says   
   Francescutti, the Edmonton emergency physician who assumes the helm of   
   the CMA next week at the group’s annual general council meeting in Calgary.   
      
   A lot of what people are discussing may be going on officially or   
   unofficially   
      
   “What I’m sensing is that the thinking is evolving quite rapidly around   
   this issue right now, and it may change,” he said.   
      
   Some surveys suggest that euthanasia is already being practised. For   
   example, morphine can be administered in ever-increasing amounts to   
   control terminal pain. Morphine depresses breathing at high doses.   
      
   “More (doctors) want to have the discussion,” Francescutti told   
   Postmedia News. “And as more people start having the discussion, they   
   start comparing what’s happening right now, either in their own practice   
   or within their institutions.   
      
   “They’re starting to find that a lot of what people are discussing may   
   be going on officially or unofficially, and they’re getting this sense   
   of relief that finally things are out in the open and we can talk about   
   them in a way that we can learn from each other and see what other   
   countries have done as well.”   
   Related   
      
   Euthanasia and doctor-assisted dying are among the most emotionally   
   charged and polarizing issues today. But the issue is taking on new   
   urgency as boomers confront their own mortality, Francescutti said. His   
   own mother died only weeks ago at the age of 84. She died at the West   
   Island Palliative Care Residence in Kirkland, Que., a palliative care   
   centre “of the highest calibre I have ever seen,” Francescutti said.   
      
   “If I’m going to pass away, that’s the way, other than dying in my sleep   
   of a heart attack, that’s the way that I would like to go — being   
   surrounded by compassionate people who understand the issues, and who   
   really care for each individual that comes through the system.”   
      
   But, “Having gone through this, all of a sudden it’s not just the   
   discussion, but it’s the reality of most of us that have aging parents.   
   And as we age ourselves, we’re starting to realize half our life is   
   over, ” he said.   
      
   “It’s the full spectrum of end-of-life care — it’s not just   
   physician-assisted euthanasia,” he stressed. He said the more urgent   
   issue is to improve the health of all Canadians “so that we can die   
   healthier.”   
      
   But, “I think what we’re seeing is that society is saying, ‘Enough of us   
   are going through this and we want to have a frank discussion.’ The   
   Canadian Medical Association is not shying away from this issue,” he   
   said. “But at the end of the day, society is going to lead the way. It’s   
   not going to be physicians.”   
      
      
   read rest of interview here:   
      
   http://news.nationalpost.com/2013/08/17/parliament-of-medicine-c   
   uld-revisit-stance-on-euthanasia-as-more-canadians-struggle-with   
   end-of-life-decisions/   
      
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