Compassionate Ottawa is Reimagining Palliative Care

 In November of 2016 a grass roots community based model of care for those facing life threatening illnesses began to take shape in Ottawa. Nearly four dozen representatives of the city and palliative care organizations would reach a consensus that there would be much to gain in what would eventually

Physician-assisted Dying Should not be a Substitute for Adequate Care and Supports for People with Mental Health Problems

 The federal government committee looking at physician assisted dying released its long-awaited recommendations recently to much debate. The permissive approach it recommends reflects the spirit of the Supreme Court of Canada declaration that the prohibition of physician assisted dying violates the fundamental human right to make one's own decisions about

Advanced Directives for Assisted-Dying a Dangerous Step

 The moment we are born, our lives take flight; and the longer we are airborne, the greater the chance of encountering turbulence along the way. While every flight is destined to land, some landings are harder to contemplate than others. The parliamentary committee tasked with advising the federal government on

We Must Speak for Those Who Can’t

 Hospitals and health facilities across the country are not equipped to deal with physician-hastened death. On June 6, the Supreme Court of Canada’s decision making physician-hastened death legal will come into effect. A parliamentary committee asked to help the government plot how that would roll out in Canada has made

Dying Badly in Canada

 Canadians now have a right to medically hastened death, but no right to quality palliative care A few days after the Supreme Court of Canada overturned the prohibition against doctor-assisted suicide, I received a note from a wonderful colleague of mine saying that her closest friend’s 53 year old son

Dying Well: Why We All Need to Have End of Life Conversations

 The last time I was in Israel, I went on some home visits with a palliative care physician in the town of Sfat near the Sea of Galilee. My colleague, a devout Jewish doctor, took me to several homes to offer advice on managing his most serious, terminally ill patients.