Realwomen of BC - Archives - Jan2003 - Guidelines for Physicians

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Guidelines for Physicians In September 2002, the University of Toronto’s Joint Centre for Bioethics released guidelines for physicians who treat terminally ill patients. The key issue in these guidelines is that there should be no maximum dose of painkillers a doctor can order for a patient. The main reason for this is that every patient is an individual case, responds to medication differently and has a different threshold for pain. However, as there are no specific rules to prevent physicians from prescribing potentially lethal doses there is concern that these guidelines might play into the hands of pro-euthanasia doctors. The pro-life organization Euthanasia Prevention Coalition, however, does not believe that these new rules would blur the difference between pain relief and euthanasia. EPC strongly believes that allowing doctors to adequately treat their patients with pain medication will actually decrease the potential for abuse of pain medication. However, the guidelines are troubling as medication prescribed for pain relieve can actually hasten death. Doctors should not be prosecuted for trying to alleviate the pain of their patients but accidentally giving them an overdose. The authors of the guidelines admit that “these may make the detection of euthanasia/assisted suicide more difficult.” Because of this, it is crucial that extreme-dose decisions that might hasten death need to be subject to review, in advance, by a hospital palliative care committee. One of the reasons always given for the pro-euthanasia side is that people suffer unbearable pain. The medical profession has the knowledge and the ability to eliminate pain or at least bring pain to a tolerable level. With these guidelines, doctors will feel freer to ensure that they give their patients enough medication to control the pain.
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