Never an easy decision

Re: The euthanasia slippery slope is here, Barbara Kay, Feb. 13

Barbara Kay writes rather categorically that classical medicine and “good physicians” should take no part in the process of assisted dying.

She would like to see a separate system of “euthanology” to deal with the process of the terminally ill who are looking to physicians ( and nurse practitioners) to assist with the poignant struggles that people have when confronting death and suffering.

She also goes on to assert that “Palliative care is the real medical aid in dying ...”

I am one of these classically trained family and palliative care physicians. I’ve been treating the terminally ill, the dying, the disadvantaged and patients with horrific suffering for almost 30 years. I still lose sleep coming to terms with what I see and hear. What really is the best for those who approach death? It remains never an easy decision.

Primum non nocere. First, do no harm, is a good place to start our processes with patients. Secondly, listen to what individuals want. What do they value? What is of most meaning to them. In short, practice compassion. Listen to the suffering and try to feel it. If assisted death is part of that recipe for alleviating that suffering, then so be it. Who are we as a society to judge what suffering means to someone?

Should all avenues be explored before offering a lethal injection? Absolutely yes. Must there be oversight and strict safeguards in place for physicians and others during this process. One hundred per cent yes, which is what we have now.

If palliative care really is the real aid we offer to those who are dying, then palliative care can include offering Medical Assistance in Death and Dying, for those physicians comfortable with such an approach, and willing to provide this service to patients who are requesting it as their final wish in life. Steven E. Rubenzahl, MD, Toronto