The College of Physicians & Surgeons of Alberta approved a new advice document Friday to help doctors once physician-assisted suicide becomes legal in Canada.Depending on whether or not the federal government is granted an extension, this could happen as soon as Feb. 6, 2016.The college created the document in September, then asked for feedback from the public. A few hundred responses have since shaped amendments to the draft, which include the sections on “competent adult patients” and the “period of reflection.” Story continues below
Related
Election 2015: Is Canada ready for physician-assisted death?
READ MORE: What do you think of physician-assisted death? Alberta doctors want to knowThe old document restricted consent to competent adult patients, but that has been amended to include mature minors. The document states, “legal precedent recognizes mature minors as adults in their ability to consent; the College recommends physicians take a careful and conservative approach to mature minors.”The original document had a set time of 14 days as the period of reflection, which has been amended to be more flexible to account for different clinical conditions. The document reads: “A period of reflection should follow the initial request in most cases, the length of time proportional to the urgency of the patient’s circumstances. For patients with a non-terminal and slowly progressive condition, a reflective period of 14 days from initial request until final consent request is recommended.”You can read the advice document on the College’s site here.“We looked at jurisdictions around the world where physician aid in dying is already legal, as well as Quebec in Canada, to see what they were doing,” CPSA Registrar Dr. Trevor Theman said in a September statement. “So we’ve incorporated a lot of the concepts from those jurisdictions.”READ MORE: Debate flies at CMA meeting over physician’s role in assisted dying
© Shaw Media, 2015
