Wednesday, 18 February 2015

What happens to doctors who refuse to help kill their patients?

"The ruling is clear that doctors cannot be compelled to help people die. But the court acknowledges that legislators and medical regulators will have to find a way to reconcile the rights of patients and physicians in response to the judgment. 
'There is an issue that remains,' said Paula Rochman, a lawyer who works with Dying With Dignity. 'Do you have a duty to refer the patient to somebody else?' 
That question could be left to the self-regulating professional colleges that govern physician behaviour in every province. Some – but not all – already have broad policies that require doctors to provide referrals if they refuse to provide a legal medical service on religious or moral grounds." 

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