Monday, August 18, 2008

Tony Clement Scolds Doctors' Ethics. Maybe He Wishes He Had Some.


Harper Uber-Weasel, HealthMin Tony Clement, has castigated Canadian doctors for supporting safe-injection facilities such as Vancouver's Insite. According to The Globe & Mail, Tony tried a new tack:

"Is it ethical for health-care professionals to support the administration of drugs that are of unknown substance, or purity or potency, drugs that cannot otherwise be legally prescribed?" Mr. Clement said.

Clement's mush-mouthed sophistry is, as always, over the top. No one supports "the administration of drugs." What the medical profession supports is the provision of clean needles and a safe place for addicts to use under supervision, a site that also offers counselling for those wanting to end their drug habits. As Clement knows this isn't about the administration of drugs. Close Insite and those very drugs will still be bought and sold and administered only in back alleys with shared needles that create an enormous health problem for the entire community.

CMA president Dr. Brian Day wasted no time kicking Clement to the curb where his type belongs.

"Dr. Brian Day said sites that allow addicts to inject their own narcotics under the supervision of medical staff have been successful in curbing illegal drug use and slowing the spread of disease.

"We specifically take issue with the minister using that phrase," Dr. Day told reporters after Mr. Clement's speech.


"The minister was off base in calling into question the ethics of physicians involved in harm reduction.

"It's clear that this was being used as a political issue."

Clement, reaching even lower, then criticized Insite as ineffective, because most narcotics are still used in "back alleys and seedy motels." Wait a minute. Insite isn't effective because it isn't big enough to reach more addicts? So let's shut it down? Hey Nimrod, if that's your concern - reaching more addicts - why don't you simply fund more clinics?

The man is a total moral reptile.

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