Canadian Jewish News: Medical aid in dying is "madness."

Alex Schadenberg
Executive Director - Euthanasia Prevention Coalition

Michael Bouhadana (on right)

Dr Michael Bouhadana, who is a family practitioner and palliative and pain care consultant at the Jewish General Hospital in Montréal, as quoted in an article by Janice Arnold published in the Canadian Jewish News that at a national conference on aging, organized by the Jewish Federations of Canada, he said:

"requiring doctors to end the lives of patients who request it is “madness,” 

“A doctor’s job is to cure sometimes, relieve often, comfort always – kill never,”

Boudadana continued with his critique of the law that permits euthanasia:

No one knows how many JGH patients have undergone MAD or how many have done so elsewhere in the province, because the procedure is not being entered on death certificates as the cause, according to guidelines issued by the Collège des médecins du Québec. 

“Instead, you write the disease… This is a lie, because you provoked the death,”

Boudadana then stated that greater access to palliative care is needed:

Only 16 to 30 per cent of Canadians, depending on where they live, can get such care,

The average daily cost of keeping a patient in an acute-care hospital is $1,100. In a palliative care unit or hospice, it’s $770 and, if the care is provided at home, less than $100.

Boudadana said that in Québec, every acute-care hospital and long-term care facility is required to provide medical aid in dying, including the Jewish General Hospital.