Abstract

This paper concerns the ethical judgment that lies at the heart of assessing requests for Medical Assistance in Dying (MAID) in Canada and Quebec, namely is it ethically right to help the person requesting assistance to end his or her life? We address situations in which making this judgment may be challenging despite the person fulfilling legal eligibility requirements. Using three clinical cases that are challenging by virtue of the legal requirement that a person experience intolerable suffering we explore this issue. We review practice guidance provided to providers and assessors in six jurisdictions and discuss potential resources to inform the ethical judgments involved in MAID assessments.

摘要

本文涉及在加拿大和魁北克评估临终医疗救助 (MAID) 请求的核心伦理判断，即帮助请求救助的人结束他或她的生命在伦理上是正确的吗？我们解决了尽管该人符合法律资格要求但做出此判断可能具有挑战性的情况。使用三个临床案例，这些案例由于一个人经历无法忍受的痛苦的法律要求而具有挑战性，我们探讨了这个问题。我们审查了提供给六个司法管辖区的提供者和评估者的实践指南，并讨论了潜在的资源，以告知 MAID 评估中涉及的道德判断。