What in God's name is wrong with Manitoba judges? Doctors are resigning rather than force treatment on an essentially-dead man knowing that would be nothing shy of grotesque torture.
This is being portrayed as a clash of medical ethics but it's much more than that, it's a collapse of the will of our legal system.
The Manitoba court ordered hospital physicians to keep 84-year old Samuel Golubchuck alive, regardless of the consequences, until the court can get off its fat, lazy ass and hear the question in late September? This poor man is already essentially dead and the Manitoba court wants to keep him on some respiratory and circulatory treadmill until "cottage time" has comfortably ended. And his very flesh is rotting away before our own eyes. Doesn't Sam deserve a lot better than this? What kind of people could, quite knowingly, subject another human being to this fate? I sure couldn't, could you?
If this court has a shred of integrity, it'd get off its sackcloth and silk backside and direct expedited argument, perhaps within a day. A court with even a modicum of courage would respect any ( and definitely your and mine) Canadian's life enough to expedite this. If the victim was us, would any of us not want just that degree of respect and consideration?
There's a powerful smell about this. Judges who aren't willing to put Golubchuk where he deserves to be - front and centre - but who will duck and weave and dodge, seemingly hoping that he'll be gone before they can possibly be forced to rule.
If the courts won't stand up for Golubchuk and his right to face inevitable death without outside contrivance tantamount to torture, then we're going to have to.
This just has to stop. People - we can't have this in Canada!
7 comments:
It is his family who wants to keep him alive. They are saying that God decides when to die and when to live and not courts. Courts have a problem.
If its God, why is he on life support machines?
Oops...
LD, I think Mike's point is valid. It's not God that's keeping this man alive. If they want God to decide when he is to die, remove him from life support and allow God to have His way.
We don't allow families to take a life (Latimer) and we shouldn't allow them to put one who can't speak for himself through this either.
Maybe there is a way of balancing this out. Allow the family an opportunity to prove that the critically ill patient had unequivocally stated his demand to be kept on life support, no matter what, or proceed as though there had been no such wish.
A lot of us (me included) have left "living wills" expressly stating our desire not to be placed on life support or even revived ("DNR") to ensure that we will be allowed to pass on in peace and with some dignity. We also accompany the living will with a clear Power of Attorney granting a named loved one the full authority to see our wishes carried out.
I do not disagree with you Mike and MoS. I just stated that family is pushing it that he be kept alive - his daughters.
You may consider the story at this website:
http://www.cbc.ca/canada/manitoba/story/2008/06/18/winnipeg-doctor.html
Thanks for the link LD. I was particularly moved by Sam's children's lawyer's retort that there's no rush even if the old guy is rotting alive. This guy said that, if the doctors are right about the state of this old man, he's not feeling the pain of his deterioration anyway. Nice touch. This character is also laying the groundwork for an adjournment of the late September trial date saying there's no way he can get his "expert" witnesses here from the US and Israel by then. Like there's no suitable experts here in Canada, probably even right at home in Winnipeg.
What a farce...that it is all it is. More farce more work. A. Morris
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