Aug 25, 2015
By Michael Kramer
Doctors will need to be trained – if they are expected to assist in a patient’s medically administered death.
That’s the word from Dr. Jeff Blackmer – the CMA’s vice-president of medical professionalism.
Blackmer says Canadian doctors have never been taught about assisted death – which was against the law – until the Supreme Court of Canada overturned the existing ban earlier this year.
He says the CMA is looking at providing an intensive two-day course for doctors – who are willing to help a suffering patient die.
The CMA will be meeting soon with doctors from the Netherlands – where physician-assisted death is legal – to discover what can be learned from their experiences.
Canadian doctors are divided over the issue of physician-assisted death.
A discussion today among delegates attending the CMA’s annual meeting in Halifax brought to light how much of a contentious issue the topic is.
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