Earlier this month, the independent body that monitors medical aid in dying in Quebec sent a memo to doctors telling them about its concerns that a growing number of MAID cases were pushing the limits of the law. Michel Bureau, president of the commission on end of life care, attends a news conference in Quebec City on Wednesday, April 3, 2019. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jacques Boissinot
MONTREAL – Quebec’s college of physicians says some doctors in the province are afraid to perform medical aid in dying because they fear reprisals.
The professional order expresses its concern in a letter it plans to send to members today, which was obtained by The Canadian Press.
The letter, signed by college president Mauril Gaudreault, does not specify what kind of reprisals doctors fear or from whom.
Gaudreault’s letter is in response to a memo from the head of Quebec’s commission on end of life care, who said Quebecers were no longer seeing MAID as a last resort.
Dr. Michel Bureau said a growing number of MAID cases were pushing the limits of the law and that there was a slight increase in the number of procedures that didn’t follow the rules.
Gaudreault says the college is not worried that a growing number of Quebecers are seeking medical aid in dying, adding that more than 99 per cent of all MAID cases follow the law.
Bureau has said that Quebec is on track to finish the year with seven per cent of all deaths recorded as doctor-assisted.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 25, 2023.
