Canadian doctor says his refusal to kill patients is treated as 'unique'

A Canadian physician revealed the terrible moment he ran into the brother of his former patient, who had been killed by assisted suicide, and decries the fact that intentionally killing patients has become commonplace.

Key Takeaways:

• Canada legalized assisted suicide, called Medical Aid in Dying (MAID), in 2016.

• Jeremy Bannon, a physician and assistant clinical professor, recently relayed a story in which he apologized to a man on behalf of his colleague, who killed the man's sister in assisted suicide.

• Bannon said the rise of assisted suicide and euthanasia is a violation of thousands of years of medical ethics, in which intentionally killing a patient would be seen as unacceptable.

The Details:

In an article written for First Things, Bannon discussed an experience he had at the hospital where he works. He happened to run into the brother of one of his patients there one day; his patient was a woman who had been recovering from a stroke.

Upon speaking with this woman's brother, Bannon was shocked; had no idea his patient had been killed by Canada's 'medical assistance in dying' (MAiD). The woman's brother said they didn't agree with her choice, but after a year, she still wanted to die.

“I’m sorry my colleague killed your sister," Bannon told the man.

Bannon said he hated how MAiD, and the doctors who commit assisted suicide and euthanasia, violate the principle to "do no harm," and that instead of giving a woman with suicidal ideations treatment, his colleague affirmed her worst fears and simply killed her. Bannon wrote:

The brother seemed surprised at what I’d said. I told him it had been a pleasure taking care of his sister and assured him that this was not the “medicine” that I had signed up for. He thanked me, almost as if my view of care was a unique approach to “the healing art.” In Canada, it increasingly is.

The curious thing about my “unique” way of practicing medicine—where I refuse to kill my patients—is that it’s actually not unique at all. Historically, medical ethics has always maintained that doctors have no business killing their patients, as evidenced by texts from ancient China, India, and Greece, all the way up to modern times.

Since being legalized, the MAiD program in Canada has rapidly expanded, and people have been killed for virtually any reason: poverty, disability, homelessness, and even mental illness.

"It is often said that the true measure of a society lies in how it treats its most vulnerable members," Bannon said. "By that standard, Canada is a society that is headed down a very dark path."

The Big Picture:

The assisted suicide regime in Canada has been increasingly criticized, with the program having grown so much that physicians are even now considering infant euthanasia. The euthanasia rate in Canada is now the highest in the world, and over half of the people who have opted for death have a diagnosed disability.

Canada has embraced MAiD to the extent that people are choosing death because they don't want to live in nursing homes, because they are struggling with poverty, or because they have disabilities. Yet despite the growing problems, the government has continued to expand the program.

Though assisted suicide is touted as a peaceful alternative to a prolonged, painful death, most people do not choose MAiD for that reason. Data has found that the majority of people who opt for assisted suicide or euthanasia cite a fear of losing autonomy, and of being unable to enjoy the same activities as before, rather than fear of a painful death. Other studies have found that people worry they will become a burden on their loved ones.

The Bottom Line:

Physicians should not be participating in killing their patients. As Bannon pointed out, it is the worst violation of medical ethics possible.