Doctor-assisted death discussed at Nova Scotia panel

The College of Physicians andSurgeons of Nova Scotia held a four-person panel Friday night to discuss how doctor-assisted death would work in the province and what guidelines should be in place if the doctor objects.

This comes three months after Supreme Court of Canada ruled that alaw that makes it illegal for anyone to help people end their own lives should be changed to allow doctors to help in specific situations.

Jocelyn Downie is a lawyer anda professor in the Faculties of Law and Medicine at Dalhousie University.

"I believe that physicians should not be compelled to provide physician-assisted death but that there should be a duty to provide an effective referral," said Downie.

"So if you are not prepared to do it, you must refer someone to someone else who is able and willing to provide the assisted death."

Dr. Jeff Kirby is a healthcare ethicist with a background in medicine and philosophy. He agrees that doctors should not be forced to provide assisted death.

Religious objections

"That being said, I think there's an obligation by the Nova Scotia Healthy Authority and the Department of Health to ensure that there is at least one committed, philosophically committed, trained 'physician-assister' in each of the four management zones of Nova Scotia," said Kirby.

Dr. NualaKenny, founding Chair of the Department of Bioethics at Dalhousie University's Faculty of Medicine, said doctors in general should not be responsible to provide assisted-death.

She said she isRoman Catholic and has religious objections, but said she also has objections as a physician and medical educator.

"How is killing an act of medicine? [Medicine] is about healing and restoration.So I'm concerned about the consequences to the physician-patient relationship," said Kenny.

The practice is still banned in Canada until early February 2016. This is to givethe federal and provincial government time to draft laws, but three of the four panelists expressed doubt any legislation would be ready by that time.