Saturday, August 21, 2010

Brampton Hospital Imposes Euthanasia By Dehydration

That happens here, in Canada, in spite of the fact that the euthanasia bill has been defeated by the Parliament:
First: Joshua (48), who is not otherwise dying, is being dehydrated to death (euthanasia by omission). This is not a case when hydration and nutrition need to be withdrawn because he is actually dying and nearing death, but rather the decision appears to have been made to intentionally cause his death by withdrawing IV hydration and nutrition probably because he is unlikely to recover from his disability.

Joshua has otherwise stabilized and would likely live for many years in this condition. Society cannot condone intentionally dehydrating a person to death because of their disability or the potential cost of long-term care.
...
Second: It is deplorable that the Consent and Capacity Board in Ontario, the hospital and the lawyer for the hospital, who are all paid by the government and have nearly unlimited resources to pressure people to consent to their will, appeared to appoint a Substitute Decision Maker (SDM) to make decisions on behalf of Joshua, based on that persons willingness to agree to a non-treatment plan, even though there is no proof that the plan of non-treatment represented the values of the person.

The Consent and Capacity Board was established to ensure that consent to treatment is based on the prior wishes or values of a person, before that person became incapacitated to make decisions for themselves. The fact that Joshua did not write down his personal wishes or assign a person to make legal and health care decisions on his behalf in these circumstances, does not negate the fact based on his religious convictions it is unlikely that he would have agreed to death by dehydration.

To pressure a person to agree to intentionally dehydrate a person to death, (euthanasia by omission) based on the cost of continuing the legal battle to defend the values of a person, is unconstitutional and inconsistent with Ontario law.
...
The court first rejected Joshua's sister, Mallika Arumugan, as his (SDM) because they did not consider her capable of making medical decisions for Joshua, but she also did not agree to the demands of the hospital.
...
Brampton Civic hospital on August 17 withdrew all life-sustaining treatment and care, including fluids and food, based on the forced agreement between the hospital and the SDM.
Again, this is not a situation when someone is on life support, which the hospital wants to turn off. Here, the patient could survive without life support, but the hospital refuses to provide him with food and water, with the declared intention to cause his death. Could it be that they're running out of beds and wish to vacate his bed for someone else? Even if that is the case, that someone else too risks to become the one left to die without food and water simply because the hospital officials believe he's a goner.

Act now to stop this savage murder of an innocent man whose only "crime" is - being disabled.

1 comment:

Lou Iacobelli said...

I completely diagree with the decision of the Brampton Civic Hospital, the lawyer, and the doctor for Joshua Kulendran Mayandi, to let him die by removing his IV hydration and nutrition. By not feeding this person, they surely realize that they have dicided to kill him.
We hope that this anti-life decision is not be carrried out. This is the culture of death without any legal backing. Just imagine the horrors if this action is legalized. People in the Brampton community will surely be afraid to come to the hospital if they see that the very place that is supposed to be there to help them, in time of need and in time of sickness, is also the place prepared to euthanize them by puposefully not feeding them or giving them anything to drink. Hospitals should be places offering hope, care and cure in all communities across Canada.

For the sake of justice, equality and the respect that we ought to have for all human beings I humbly ask those responsible that they please re-consider their decision and begin feeding Joshua immediately. They know it's the right and humane thing to do.

Thank you,

Lou Iacobelli