I knew that things were bad and spiraling, but I didn’t think they’d already be sending out the death kits.
When news leaked Sept. 1 that the Quebec government is preparing “euthanasia kits” for doctors, it came as no surprise to the head of a physicians’ group that opposes euthanasia.
Dr. Catherine Ferrier, president of the Quebec-based Physicians’ Alliance Against Euthanasia, said she knew the Collège des médecins du Québec was “working on guidelines on how to euthanize a patient.”
“It was foreseen since the law was passed last year,” she said, noting Quebec’s euthanasia Bill 52 comes into effect Dec. 10.
Catholic Organization for Life and Family (COLF) director Michele Boulva also said these guidelines, while shocking, were expected.
“Citizens who have not yet realized what the legalization of euthanasia will mean for them and their loved ones will have a very difficult awakening,” Boulva said. “Families will obviously need to be very proactive and attentive to what’s going on with their loved ones in the hospital and make sure their family doctor is opposed to this practice.”
Do we have ‘family doctors’ now? I thought you just had to go where they sent you and do what they say? How are you supposed to make sure you get one that doesn’t kill people, especially when it’s their job? I’ve been to the hospital quite a bit over the years. Now more than ever, they don’t answer too many questions. There’s all kinds of ‘I don’t knows’ and ‘wait and see’s.’
The euthanasia guidelines, reportedly developed in conjunction with Quebec’s governing bodies for nurses and pharmacists, involve a combination of drugs delivered intravenously to first, quell anxiety, second, to induce a coma, and third, drugs to stop breathing and to stop the heart.
That’s nice. Three easy steps, and the anxiety relief is really humane. I know I’d be nervous.
The drug formulas will be available on a restricted part of the College’s web site to doctors, nurses and pharmacists.
“None of this should have happened, obviously,” said Ferrier, a family doctor with a geriatric practice. “If they are going to make it legal, doctors have to learn how to do it.”
But Ferrier said the Quebec government is “scrambling” because “when the law comes into effect a lot of people won’t be prepared” to perform euthanasia. “The system won’t be set up for it,” she said. A patient might demand euthanasia once the law comes into effect, but the hospital may not have policies set up.
This government health care, they even botch killing people. We need procedures!
Ferrier questioned whether enough doctors will be willing to kill their patients and whether nurses will refuse to participate. She also questioned whether the guideline that doctors administer the drugs and supervise the death is realistic.
“Doctors are not always known to always sit by the bedside of patients when they don’t have to,” Ferrier said.
The more likely scenario is a doctor giving the injection, then leaving for the operating room or the next patient, leaving the process to the nurse, she said.
That’s right. Leave the dirty job to the nurse again. You didn’t study for twelve years so you could do everything yourself, right?
