BLOODLETTING & MIRACULOUS CURES

While there is respect, and sometimes even glamour,  associated with the life of a doctor, the reality is that doctors often face difficult situations and must make difficult decisions.  Vincent Lam's novel Bloodletting & Miraculous Cures provides a glimpse into the lives of several doctors and the challenges they face as they enter the world of medicine. Their morals and integrity are put on the line as they face career challenges and choices.  Though Lam's charaters met many challenges, Lam did not go as far as to examine the ultimate issue that brings life and death to the forefront, which is deciding when assisted dying makes sense, or 'when is it acceptable to to "pull the plug"'? If a patient is suffering and would prefer to die than go through strenuous efforts that may or may not save their life, should the decision to physician assisted dying be up to the patient or the doctor? This issue truly brings to light how difficult the decisions of a doctor in today's world can be. 

 

There have been multiple instances of patients advocating for their right to die, many high profile, such as Sue Rodriques, 1992, and Dr. Donald Low, 2013. With the advancement of medicine, there is new hope that some terminal diseases may be cured, but in the interim some patients may not want to go through the suffering and pressure while these advancements are worked through. 

 

Assisted suicide is legal in some other countries, including The Netherlands and certain U.S. states, but not in Canada. Issues in these locations have made some Canadians strongly supportive  that it remain illegal in Canada. 

 

Some of the arguments that exist in the debate against assisted suicide include: 

1) suicide is wrong, even for those who are fatally ill

2) assisted dying is incompatible with the goal of healing in medicine

3) in our society palliative care can be effective for dying with dignity

4) those who want to die are usually suffering from poor care or mental issues

5) it runs the risk of creating doctors who are desensitized to human needs

6) there is the potential to create a culture where there is indiscriminate killing of the disabled, weak and mentally ill

 

While the legality of this issue is the deciding factor, moral and religious arguments have also been brought to the table in this extensive argument. Some leaders are arguing that religion needs to be left out of the debate for legality, as religion may be placed on one side against secular society.

 

The extensive debate ties in morality and ethics with facts and science, an argument that has gone on for centuries.