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Ontario Appeals Court rules doctors don’t have right to remove life support
BY REBECCA MILLETTE
Wed Jun 29, 2011 14:59 ESTComments (2)Tags: Euthanasia, Euthanasia Prevention Coalition, Joseph Maraachli, Ontario
TORONTO, Ontario, June 29, 2011 (LifeSiteNews.com) – In a decision that will have far-reaching effects for the province and all of Canada, Ontario’s Court of Appeal judges ruled today that doctors do not have the unilateral right to remove life-support from a patient.
In the Rasouli case, which was similar to the much-publicized Baby Joseph case, doctors at the Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre were seeking permission to remove life-support from 59-year-old Hassan Rasouli who, they said, was in a vegetative state, with no hope of recovery.
Dr. Brian Cuthbertson and Dr. Gordon Rubenfeld claimed they should have the power to remove Rasouli from ventilator support, despite his family’s objections. They were appealing a Superior Court decision from April that ruled the doctors needed the family’s permission, or permission from Ontario’s Consent and Capacity Board, in order to remove Rasouli from life-support.
Rasouli’s family, however, disagreed with the doctors’ diagnosis and would not give permission for the removal of his ventilator, arguing the action would violate his religious beliefs as a Shia Muslim. They said Rasouli, who suffered bacterial meningitis after surgery to remove a brain tumor, was able to communicate with them and showed progress in his recovery, although he required the assistance of a ventilator and feeding tube.
The three justices writing for the Appeal court unanimously upheld the Superior Court decision of Justice Himmel saying that withdrawing life-support constituted medical “treatment” and required the consent of the patient’s family.
lifesitenews.com/news/ontario-appeals-court-rules-doctors-dont-have-right-to-remove-life-support
BY REBECCA MILLETTE
Wed Jun 29, 2011 14:59 ESTComments (2)Tags: Euthanasia, Euthanasia Prevention Coalition, Joseph Maraachli, Ontario
TORONTO, Ontario, June 29, 2011 (LifeSiteNews.com) – In a decision that will have far-reaching effects for the province and all of Canada, Ontario’s Court of Appeal judges ruled today that doctors do not have the unilateral right to remove life-support from a patient.
In the Rasouli case, which was similar to the much-publicized Baby Joseph case, doctors at the Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre were seeking permission to remove life-support from 59-year-old Hassan Rasouli who, they said, was in a vegetative state, with no hope of recovery.
Dr. Brian Cuthbertson and Dr. Gordon Rubenfeld claimed they should have the power to remove Rasouli from ventilator support, despite his family’s objections. They were appealing a Superior Court decision from April that ruled the doctors needed the family’s permission, or permission from Ontario’s Consent and Capacity Board, in order to remove Rasouli from life-support.
Rasouli’s family, however, disagreed with the doctors’ diagnosis and would not give permission for the removal of his ventilator, arguing the action would violate his religious beliefs as a Shia Muslim. They said Rasouli, who suffered bacterial meningitis after surgery to remove a brain tumor, was able to communicate with them and showed progress in his recovery, although he required the assistance of a ventilator and feeding tube.
The three justices writing for the Appeal court unanimously upheld the Superior Court decision of Justice Himmel saying that withdrawing life-support constituted medical “treatment” and required the consent of the patient’s family.
lifesitenews.com/news/ontario-appeals-court-rules-doctors-dont-have-right-to-remove-life-support
