Alex Schadenberg
Executive Director, Euthanasia Prevention Coalition
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| Normand Meunier |
Sylvie Brosseau told CBC news that:
Before being admitted to an intensive care bed for his third respiratory virus in three months this winter, Meunier was stuck on a stretcher in the emergency room for four days.
His partner, Sylvie Brosseau, says without having access to a special mattress, Meunier developed a major pressure sore on his buttocks that eventually worsened to the point where bone and muscle were exposed and visible — making his recovery and prognosis bleak.
"Ninety-five hours on a stretcher, unacceptable," Brosseau told Radio-Canada in an interview.
"Every time we go to the hospital, it's my duty to tell them that Normand is quadriplegic and needs an alternating pressure mattress … I don't understand how this can happen, because a mattress is the most basic thing."
Meunier's death by euthanasia is one of many stories of people who "choose" to die after receiving negligent medical care.
Jean-Pierre Beauchemin, a retired geriatrician and professor at Université Laval's faculty of medicine tod CBC news:
"When you're lying down, always in the same position, there's hyper-pressure between the bone and the skin,"
"A pressure sore can open in less than 24 hours, and then take a very long time to close."
The buttocks, heels, elbows and knees are particularly vulnerable.
A rotation schedule every two hours is generally necessary for a person confined to bed, according to a Quebec Health Ministry reference sheet.
Steven Laperrière, the director general of the Regroupement des activistes pour l'inclusion au Québec (RAPLIQ), which supports people with disabilities told CBC news:
"That whole story is a crying shame,"
"It's really a case of disbelief … What are we doing in order to help disabled persons or sick people to live in dignity prior to dying in dignity?"
He says the health-care institution was "negligent to say the least" and that getting a proper mattress is not like "trying to get a space shuttle into orbit."
"It's pretty basic … Nobody will convince me that within a few hours the proper mattress could not have been found," said Laperrière.
"To me, that's totally a lack of professionalism," said Laperrière, who says Meunier "would probably still be alive today" if staff had "been really professional about it."
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| Trudo Lemmens |
"Then the system responds by saying: 'well, you have access to medical assistance and dying,'"
"Medical assistance in dying is more easily available and on a more regular basis than some of the most basic care."
He says he is increasingly hearing stories of people who are struggling in the system and turn to MAID.
"It's deeply troubling,"
Watts reported that along with Brosseau, Moelle épinière et motricité Québec (MÉMO-Qc), an advocacy group for people with disabilities, is now demanding the Quebec government launch an independent inquest into Meunier's death. They believe the health authority's internal investigation is insufficient.
The disability group is seeking a meeting with Christian Dubé, Quebec's health minister, concerning the circumstances and lack of care that people with disabilities are experiencing in Québec.
By the way, euthanasia is all about "choice", "freedom" and "autonomy."
This is another very troubling story of the government's neglect AND pushing MAiD as a cost saving program that is beyond reprehensible. The Canadian medical system os broken and it's becoming even moreso. And it's the vulnerable in the system who are most affected.
ReplyDeleteIn 2016, I predicted that the presence of MAiD would result in less emphasis on real medical care, and a turn toward giving up in resignation. This is horrendous. Canadians have always been known for being compassionate and respectful of others. But it looks like the US is making a monumental error, thinking the Canadian Health Care System is worth emulating.
ReplyDeleteDeacon William Gallerizzo
May God bless Normand's soul and may he rest in peace and may his death not be in vain but cause an abundance of true palliative care wards and facilities in Canada and around the world to be created and flourish where patients and their professional health care workers including those who have faith and devotion to God, are not harassed and ousted by the bullying culture of death!
ReplyDeleteThe same neglect that is found within the medical system can be found within families. A lot of the time, caring for family members is just too "inconvenient" for families. Few people, these days, are willing to make major sacrifices in order to enhance the quality of someone who has suffered a catastrophic injury - whether that injury is physical - as in the case of the man in this story, or emotional, or even financial. When we willingly choose to leave our family members, or our community members, behind - to suffer in aloneness and silence, then "MAID" begins to look good to the person who was so hurt. IMO, it is a case of "Shame on all of us."
ReplyDeleteOpportunist family members are a big clandestine and unforeseen problem particularly among families of financial means. The heirs want as much as they can get; so killing Mom or Dad earlier gives more to go around.
DeleteDcn Bill Gallerizzo
The background to this story is that Canada's health care system has been discriminating against and abusing the disabled for decades. Disabled patients are routinely denied care, especially emergency care. Their condition is minimized, they're accused of malingering or lying to get attention, they're sent home without an exam, or they're ignored for days. Often they're driven out of the hospital by security guards. I'm disabled and have experienced this treatment many times.
ReplyDeleteWhat happened to the Quebec gentleman is nothing short of homicide. He was deliberately left to suffer for days, they knew he'd end up suffering and they did nothing to alleviate his pain. This wasn't a choice, it was literal torture to force him to accept being murdered.
I predict that there will be many more cases like this - forcing disabled people to accept being murdered under torture. MAID has officially been substituted for health care for the disabled. The Canadian government has made their attitude towards the disabled crystal clear: they want us dead.
I know disabled people who are already afraid of seeking medical treatment in fear that they will be murdered instead. I'm one of them. I'm now seriously considering leaving the country out of genuine fear that they'll show up at my door soon and drag me away to be slaughtered.
It seems there was always a certain disregard for disabled people in Canada’s healthcare. The introduction of MAID in Canada has made this disregard more apparent as doctors readily suggest death rather than care. I truly believe that these doctors have become inured to the reality that they are murdering people and causing immense suffering to their families. I consider it evil.
ReplyDeleteWakey, wakey, Canada!
ReplyDeleteLike poor Normand, God rest his soul, I too am a quadriplegic due to a spinal cord injury. Since 1982 I have required assistance to dress, bathe, toilet, and get into and out of my wheelchair. Ever since Robert Latimer gassed his disabled daughter, Tracy, on their Saskatchewan farm in 1993 I have been shocked and frightened for my life and the life of all disabled citizens in Canada. With the gushing of the Canadian media and the terrifying support of letter after letter of "average" Canadians making a child murderer into a compassionate hero-martyr I have gone about my daily business feeling like I have a target on my back. I dread visits to the hospital. Now that I am older, I feel that I have less to lose. My fear is now dissolving into anger. I now tell who ever will listen the truth about our healthcare system and country. As the author of this article states, we need to get off our duffs and make a lot of noise with graphic descriptions of stories like poor Normand's and flood the media and our politicians with the truth of what we have become: utilitarian, apathetic, monsters.
Bottom line: a disabled person's life is worth less than an alternating pressure air mattress in Canada.