AUDIO: Death and the Law in Oregon : Lessons for Quebecers as they consider Bill 52

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Quebec is reviewing Bill 52 today. The link below is to Dr. Kenneth Stevens interviewed on the CBC’s The Current. Click to listen.

http://www.cbc.ca/player/AudioMobile/The%2BCurrent/ID/2414794755/

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Bill 52 Quebec – Dr Stevens shares 4 cases in hopes of warning Quebecers – It’s A License to Kill

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2 days prior to « a vote in principal » of Bill 52 at the Quebec National Assembly, the Coalition of Physicians for Social Justice invited an Oregon physician, Dr Kenneth Stevens, who described how Oregon’s physician assisted suicide law had caused hundreds of physician assisted suicides over the past fifteen years. He also described how if the current Bill 52 on euthanasia is passed in Quebec, hundreds of Quebecers will die annually at the hands of doctors.

Dr Kenneth Stevens is a leading cancer specialist with more than 40 years’ experience. He is also a Professor Emeritus and a former Chair of the Department of Radiation Oncology, Oregon Health & Sciences University, and Portland, Oregon. He has treated thousands of patients with cancer.

According to Oregon law, patients must be considered to have less than 6 months to live. Dr Stevens stated that the ability to diagnose and predict the survival of people at the « end of life » with months to years to live is inaccurate. Many patients who are considered « terminal » or « end of life » are not necessarily dying.

Dr Stevens described one patient in his 40’s who was diagnosed in 2004 with advanced cancer with 13 tumors in his liver and more than 70 tumors throughout his lung. The original biopsy showed « adenocarcinoma of the liver. » He was told that he would probably be dead in 6 weeks. After the bad news, he sold off many of his assets and bought his burial plot. When he realized that he was feeling well he sought second opinions. After consulting other pathologists he was finally told that the condition was « epithelioid hemangioendothelioma » which can be chronic and not fatal. Now 9 years later he is doing well and happy to be alive without any cancer treatments.

Dr Stevens described how hundreds of so-called « hopeless cases » with treatment can go on to survive many profitable years or be cured. Hospital administrators and doctors would have abandoned and not treated these people. Four other of his patients were discussed. One was a 30 year old woman with liver cancer which had metastasized to her chest and was told « she did not have long to live. » With combined radiation/chemotherapy she lived over 20 years with quality life. An 18 year old college man with glioblastoma multiforme (the most malignant brain cancer) was treated. He graduated from college, law school, passed the Oregon bar exam, married had 2 children, was elected to city council and survived over 20 years. Another 50 year old woman with advanced lymphoma, was bedridden and not able to stand or walk. She received radiation treatments with total resolution of her disease. All these patients were treated despite « poor prognosis » and other physicians questioning the reasonability of such « aggressive and futile treatment » for these very severe conditions.

According to Dr Stevens; other people are encouraged to give up on care because of the existence of the assisted suicide law. The message of the proponents of assisted suicide is that « doctors can do a better job of killing you than caring for you. »

Present at the conference and giving her testimony was a patient of Dr Stevens, Jeanette Hall. She was diagnosed in 2000 with lower bowel cancer and told that she had six months to a year to live. She considered chemotherapy and radiation therapy futile. She asked for assisted suicide as provided by the state of Oregon. Dr Stevens disagreed with her decision for assisted suicide and was able to convince her to undergo radiation and chemotherapy. She is now thrilled to be alive 13 years after undergoing cancer therapy and not killing herself with a lethal dose of barbiturates.

Dr. Stevens believes that people who are not dying are being lured into assisted suicide. They are misguided to believe that their medical condition is irreversible and discouraged to undergo any treatment that is « overaggressive and futile. » Dr Steven’s states that « overaggressive and futile therapy » is a relative term—and can only be defined in hindsight. If a patient undergoes therapy for a very severe condition and survives—such therapy is not overaggressive and futile because it was successful. People are being denied therapies that could prolong and save their lives. Dr Stevens also talked about how financial incentives in Oregon’s government health plan steers patients to suicide. In Oregon, the government insurance sets limits on cancer care. Dr. Stevens warned that if assisted suicide or euthanasia is legalized in Quebec, then the Quebec government health program could follow a similar pattern—that is limit coverage for cancer care and thus encourage euthanasia.

Dr. Paul Saba, a family physician and co-president of the Coalition of Physicians for Social Justice explained how Québec’s proposed euthanasia law would encourage people, including young adults 18 and over with treatable conditions such as depression, chronic lung and heart disease, diabetes, rheumatoid arthritis and fibromyalgia to agree to euthanasia and end their lives.

The Coalition’s position against euthanasia is supported by the World Medical Association representing nine million physicians.

For additional reference videos please visit the CoalitionYoutube channel

An Oregon doctor: « Quebec’s proposed euthanasia law is a license to kill »

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Jeanette Hall, is thrilled to be alive 13 years after Dr Kenneth Stevens,  a practicing cancer doctor with more than 40 years’ experience, talked her out of « doing » Oregon’s law, i.e., killing herself with a lethal dose of barbiturates.

In 2000, Jeanette was diagnosed with cancer by another doctor and told that she had six months to a year to live.  This was without treatment.  The other doctor had referred her to Dr. Stevens for radiation and chemotherapy.  Jeanette, however, had voted for Oregon’s law.  She had made a firm decision to go forward with Oregon’s law instead.

Jeanette Hall shares her story with Dr Paul Saba

Dr Kenneth Stevens is a Professor Emeritus and a former Chair of the Department of Radiation Oncology, Oregon Health & Sciences University, Portland, Oregon.  He has treated thousands of patients with cancer.

In a press conference this morning in Montreal, Dr. Stevens spoke about how the mere existence of legal assisted suicide steered Jeanette Hall to suicide.  He also discussed how financial incentives in Oregon’s government health plan steer patients to suicide.

Dr. Stevens offered a warning to Quebecers, and any place looking to legalize Euthanasia:

…if assisted suicide or euthanasia is legalized in Quebec, for example, then the Quebec government health program could follow a similar pattern—that is, to pay for people to die, but not to live.

Dr. Paul Saba, a family physician and co-president of the Coalition of Physicians for Social Justice believes that Québec’s proposed euthanasia law will encourage people, including young adults with treatable conditions, to agree to euthanasia and throw away their lives.  The Coalition’s position against euthanasia is supported by the World Medical Association representing nine million physicians.

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Physician-assisted suicide encourages people with years to live to throw away their lives: an Oregon cancer doctor and his patient tell their story and warns Quebecers

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Date: October 25, 2013
Time: 10:30 am
Location: Auberge Bonaparte
447, rue Saint-François-Xavier
Montréal, QC H2Y 2T1
(Beside the Centaur Theatre)

The Coalition of Physicians for Social Justice presents a doctor and his patient from Oregon where assisted suicide is legal.

Dr Kenneth StevensDr Kenneth Stevens is a practicing cancer doctor with more than 40 years’ experience. He is also a Professor Emeritus and a former Chair of the Department of Radiation Oncology, Oregon Health & Sciences University, Portland, Oregon. He has treated thousands of patients with cancer.

Jeanette Hall, Dr. Stevens’ patient, is thrilled to be alive 13 years after he talked her out of “doing” Oregon’s law, i.e., killing herself with a lethal dose of barbiturates.

In 2000, Jeanette was diagnosed with cancer by another doctor and told that she had six months to a year to live. This was without treatment. The other doctor had referred her to Dr. Stevens for radiation and chemotherapy. Jeanette, however, had voted for Oregon’s law. She had made a firm decision to go forward with Oregon’s law instead.

Dr. Stevens did not believe in assisted suicide. He also believed that Jeanette’s prospects for treatment were good. He convinced her to be treated instead of doing Oregon’s law.

Dr. Stevens will talk about how the mere existence of legal assisted suicide steered Jeanette Hall to suicide. He will also talk about how financial incentives in Oregon’s government health plan also steer patients to suicide. Dr. Stevens warns how if assisted suicide or euthanasia is legalized in Quebec, then the Quebec government health program could follow a similar pattern—that is, to pay for people to die, but not to live.

Dr. SabaDr. Paul Saba, a family physician and co-president of the Coalition of Physicians for Social Justice will demonstrate how Québec’s proposed euthanasia law will encourage people, including young adults with treatable conditions, to agree to euthanasia and throw away their lives.

The Coalition’s position against euthanasia is supported by the World Medical Association representing nine million physicians.

Saving Money, not Lives. Oregon limits life extending cancer treatment, offers assisted suicide instead

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VIDEO:Barbara Wagner – Denied Cancer Treatment, encouraged to take assisted suicide instead

 

In 2008, Barbara Wagner wanted to continue fighting for her life and continuing cancer treatment. Her doctor recommended a treatment that could help extend her life, but the government sent her a letter declining coverage for the drug, but offering to pay for comfort care including physician aid in dying…

Read more from the article:

Letter noting assisted suicide raises questions

By Susan Harding

 

 

The coalition questions the legality of bill 52 #Canada #Quebec

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The Coalition of Physicians for Social Justice denounced Bill 52 which appears to be illegal since euthanasia doctors could be prosecuted criminally and the Quebec legislature could be brought before the Supreme Court of Canada. The Coalition implored the public to look at the casualties of the Belgian experience
MONTREAL, Oct. 15, 2013 /CNW Telbec/ – At a press conference, the Coalition of Physicians for Social Justice announced the legal means they plan to use to stop Bill 52 which is dangerous to the health and safety of Quebecers at the end of life and those not at the end of life. « This bill is illegal in many ways », said Dr. Paul Saba.

Mr. Dominique Talarico, a lawyer, announced that the Coalition of Physicians for Social Justice will ask permission to intervene in the case of Gloria Taylor and Kathleen Carter in British Columbia if the recent decision of the Court of Appeal of British Columbia is appealed to the Supreme Court of Canada. In addition, in the case of Taylor and Carter, Mr. Talarico supports the decision of Judge Newbury and Judge Saunders of the British Columbia Court of Appeal. « It is clear that the decision of the Supreme Court of Canada in the case of Sue Rodriguez against British Columbia in 1993, could not be ignored in British Columbia, as it cannot be in Quebec. The Quebec government is going the wrong way by trying to legislate on the issue of euthanasia through a medical « re-branding » whereas euthanasia is exclusively the jurisdiction of the federal parliament regarding the criminal nature arising from the fact that euthanasia is a death caused by another individual. Although the term is not used by the Quebec legislature, it is clear that euthanasia is in fact euthanasia – the act of a person administering a fatal dose of a drug or lethal substance to end the life of another person. The « deception » relates to the misleading term « end-of-life care ». This does not change the application and scope of the federal law, which defines euthanasia as murder. If Quebec passes Bill 52, we will do everything we can to suspend the application of this law from the moment that it is adopted. Furthermore, we will ask the Court to pronounce the law as being invalid. If necessary, we will fight all the way to the Supreme Court of Canada. »

Mr. Talarico explained how the Quebec Bar, which supports the bill, still recognizes that « assisted suicide and other forms of euthanasia remain criminal… » To circumvent this difficulty, the Quebec Bar states that « It is no longer at all certain that criminal law fulfills its true mission in end-of-life care for people at the end of life. » The Quebec Bar proposes to adopt guidelines to be published by the Quebec Attorney General for attorneys assigned to criminal and penal prosecutions in Quebec similar to those adopted in 2010 by the Prosecutor in Britain. The Bar added: « These guidelines, issued in 2010, should be adopted if the Attorney General of Quebec decides to follow this path in order to integrate the evolution of the application of the law that we propose in our present brief. » It is a Band-Aid solution to stop hemorrhaging. The Attorney General in Britain is in charge of all criminal attorneys to achieve a smooth and consistent application of the law throughout the country. In contrast, the Attorney General of Quebec has jurisdiction over attorneys practicing only in Quebec, and although the application of the Criminal Code is the responsibility of each province, the resulting application of the law would be potentially different in Quebec and could be discriminatory and subject to legal challenge. This solution is ephemeral and cannot reassure doctors from prosecution who commit a criminal offense of euthanasia.

Dr. Georges Casteur a Belgian family physician and former director of a neurological rehabilitation center in Ostend, Belgium (1976-2012), denounced the slippery slope of the Belgian euthanasia law. « The criteria appeared at first restrictive but then became increasingly wide open. The interpretation of the law is so liberal that any person may be euthanized for any reason. » He also demonstrated that the proposed Bill 52 is very broad and predicts that the same abuses that are occurring in Belgium will happen in Quebec. Currently in Belgium people who are tired of life or depressed can be euthanized on demand.

He cited the example of a 64-year-old woman who was euthanized for depression following the break-up of a relationship. A young woman with anorexia nervosa was a victim of euthanasia after an abusive sexual relationship with her ​​psychiatrist. These cases demonstrate a slippery slope and the « permissive attitude towards euthanasia which is promoted by euthanasia doctors ».

« Furthermore, people are being denied « free and informed consent » for the following reasons: family influence (exhaustion of caregivers, enticement of early inheritance); nurses or orderlies overwhelmed at work and lacking resources; and some doctors, favourable towards euthanasia.

Dr. Paul Saba, a family physician and co-president of the Coalition of Physicians for Social Justice, denounced euthanasia which has no place in the practice of modern medicine in Quebec. The position against euthanasia is supported by the World Medical Association representing nine million physicians. Is the government going to euthanize people who should not be euthanized – depressed people, people with disorders and/or disabilities, young people with diseases or depression encouraged to abandon medical treatment pre-maturely, people manipulated by their families or doctors? Dr. Saba insists that Bill 52 is a diversion for the real needs in our health care system. « It’s easy to promote the lethal injection that costs $10 when emergency rooms are overflowing and people do not have family physicians, wait months for tests and surgeries, and worry about their health. »

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Dr. Paul Saba
514-886-3447
514-249-8541
pauljsaba@gmail.com
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Les RISQUES MORTELS de l’euthanasie – 7 Points

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Dr. SabaDans l’article de La Presse le 5 octobre 2013, le Dr Gaétan Barrette s’interroge sur les risques de dérapage si la loi 52 sur l’aide médicale à mourir franchit avec succès sa dernière étape. Oublions les hypothèses au sujet du bien-fondé de l’euthanasie et discutons des faits suscitant une vigoureuse remise en question de cette procédure.

 

 

 

 

1- Neuf millions de médecins de L’Association Médicale Mondiale (AMM) à travers 100 pays condamnent l’euthanasie. Pourquoi ?

 

2- L’euthanasie autorisée légalement en Belgique montre de sérieux dérapages en étant utilisée chez des sujets non en « fin de vie ». Dans ce pays, des gens sont euthanasiés à cause de l’épuisement de vivre ou d’un état dépressif, sans préavis à la famille.   Un patient  Nathan Verhelst (« Nancy ») de 44 ans qui n’était pas heureux avec la chirurgie pour changer son sexe fut euthanasié le 30 septembre, 2013.  En 2003, toujours en Belgique,  l’adoption d’une loi autorisant l’euthanasie entraîna  235 décès prématurés. En 2012, ce nombre s’éleva à 1,432 décès. Actuellement, le sénat belge discute de la possibilité d’élargir l’accès à l’euthanasie aux mineurs souffrants et affectés par une maladie sévère. Au Pays-Bas, cette loi permet déjà l’euthanasie pour des nouveaux nés et des jeunes enfants.

 

3- Les balises mises en place  en Belgique n’assurent pas une protection complète. Le tiers des patients  euthanasiés en Belgique n’aurait  pas été en mesure de donner un consentement libre et informé. Toujours en Belgique, presque 50% des cas d’euthanasie n’ont pas été rapportés aux autorités.

 

4- Il n’existe pas de modèle fiable pour déterminer avec précision la durée de vie des patients avant leur décès. Les modèles de calcul sophistiqués utilisés pour prédire la fin de vie dans les prochains six mois chez les patients porteurs de maladies chroniques montrent une précision de 50%.

 

5- L’euthanasie est discriminatoire pour les patients souffrant de problèmes de santé mentale. Ces patients ne sont pas en stade de vie terminale et à cause de leur maladie, ils ne sont pas en mesure de prendre une décision libre et éclairée. Le droit d’accéder à l’euthanasie crée des risques non négligeables tels que les décès prématurés chez ceux qui souffrent  de conditions potentiellement réversibles.

 

 

6- La tentation est grande de réaliser des millions de dollars d’économie par le biais de l’euthanasie. L’euthanasie est une approche très efficace pour épargner des sommes importantes et les soins palliatifs exigent des ressources financières beaucoup plus lourdes. Au Québec, 20% seulement des patients  ayant besoin de soins palliatifs ont  accès à ces services. En Oregon, le traitement pour un cancer doit obtenir un taux de réussite de plus de 50% pendant  24 mois—même pour les personnes à jeune âge, pour que le gouvernement accepte de supporter le coût des soins médicaux.

 

7- En légalisant l’euthanasie, les citoyens du Québec prennent l’allure de citoyens de seconde zone en comparaison avec les criminels.

En effet, nous avons aboli la peine capitale pour éviter la mort d’innocents suite à des erreurs judiciaires et les gouvernements investissent des sommes astronomiques pour les services de réclusion.

Les sept points apportés sont des faits clairement établis. La légalisation de l’euthanasie a bien du mal à justifier sa présence dans une société qui a choisi de défendre les droits individuels et qui prône le respect de la vie.