College of Physicians 'extremely disappointed' after Quebec pulls controversial article from medical aid in dying bill

The Quebec College of Physicians says it is disappointed with the province's health minister after he backtracked on a controversial article from his bill to expand medical assistance in dying.

Last week, Health Minister Christian Dubé announced he was withdrawing a section granting eligibility to people with severe neuromotor disabilities, like quadriplegia, just 24 hours before the bill was introduced in the National Assembly.

The minister said the change was because he heard the concerns of opposition parties and did not want to let Bill 38 "slip" and not get voted into law before the end of the session on June 10.

His goal, he said, was to bring everyone together.

This came after opposition parties said last Thursday they were surprised neuromotor disabilities had been added, because the issue had not yet been debated in Quebec.

Dubé then said he'd made a mistake by listening to Quebec's College of Physicians, which had been pushing hard to have severe neuromotor disabilities included in the bill's 50 articles. He added that there was a legally blurry area between the Quebec and federal governments.

Dubé said he was listening, however, to what doctors on the ground were experiencing.

"Some people have been able to get access to [medical aid in dying] with the existing law, but some doctors were really not comfortable with that. I think it's a matter of precision," he said.

Dubé then said he explained to the head of the College that he couldn't chance the bill being derailed and they would revisit the issue when Quebecers are ready.

On Tuesday, the College des Medecins outlined its position.

"The College is extremely disappointed of the withdrawal of a section concerning neuromotor handicaps and reiterates that it wishes the necessary harmonization of federal and provincial laws on MAID," president Dr. Mauril Gaudreault wrote on the group's website.

"The current Act respecting end of life care is more restrictive than the Criminal Code for its eligibility criteria" which provides that "anyone with grievous and irremediable medical conditions may be eligible for MAID. This includes an illness, disease or disability of a serious and incurable nature."

"This distinct situation in Quebec creates confusion and great discomfort among physicians when the time comes to assess a person's eligibility to receive MAID. For the College, there cannot be two laws for the same suffering."

The overall aim of Bill 38 is to allow people with Alzheimer's, for example, to apply early for MAID, with advanced consent, before they can no longer do so.

At present, one must be capable of consenting at the time of obtaining MAID, with some exceptions.

Former Quebec MNA Geoff Kelley, who helped draft Quebec's original medically assisted dying law, also weighed in on the matter Tuesday, saying he wonders if having advanced consent will be difficult.

Kelley said he thinks it may put a lot of pressure on the medical professionals, third parties and the family to decide when to where to draw the line and let go.