With the recent legalization of physician-assisted death in Canada, what’s next?

The legislation of physician-assisted death has Canadian provinces and territories scrambling to formulate the legal rules and regulations for providing this care. Health care professionals are committed first and foremost to improving and maintaining their patients’ quality quantity of life, which poses serious concerns around the philosophical, legal, and ethical implications of physician-assisted death. The Psychonephrology Lecture Series is proud to present a special four-part video series on this topic. 

The series begins with Dr. Rauf Sirman (Psychiatrist, Humber River Hospital), describing several clinical cases of patients seeking dialysis cessation, exploring the common themes that emerge among such patients.

The second segment is presented by Dr. Sonu Gaind (President, Canadian Psychiatric Association), who provides an in-depth explanation of the current law and its foreseeable clinical application.

Dr. James Downar (Ethicist, Palliative Physician, UHN) presents the issue of accessibility and the roles of autonomy and capacity in decision-making, while also translating this into a renal environment.

The fourth and final segment is a post-presentation discussion between the presenters – Dr. Rauf Sirman, Dr. Sonu Gaind and Dr. James Downar – and the participating audience comprised of community/academic nephrologists, psychiatrists, ethicists, social workers, and nurse practitioners.

This special four-part series is set to be posted in Sifted Sand for the month of July. All Psychonephrology newsfeed subscribers will have free access to these posts and will receive advanced notice of the release dates. Psychonephrology.com looks forward to having you join us this July for the Physician-Assisted Death in the Renal Unit? series.