April 4, 2016
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau
Office of the Prime Minister
80 Wellington Street
Ottawa, ON K1A 0A2
To the Honourable Prime Minister
Trudeau,
I am writing to you out of deep
concern for the legislation that will soon be drafted regarding physician
assisted suicide. I am so concerned,
that I produced videos on the websites, DearGodLetter.ca and CherDieuLettre.ca,
in the hope that more Canadians would be informed about the potential
ramifications of such legislation.
As a medical doctor, there are
many arguments I could provide detailing why physician assisted suicide is wrong
for Canada. But the one argument that many
have overlooked is the very real likelihood that physician assisted suicide in
Canada would actually lead to more
pain and suffering in Canada—not less.
Let me explain:
As a pain specialist I have evaluated
hundreds of car accident victims over the past several years. Interestingly, the patient suffering chronic
pain from injuries sustained in the crash is almost always the victim—rarely the
individual(s) responsible for the crash. Many falsely believe these patients are just trying to scam the system.
While this might be the case in rare circumstances, almost always these victims
have legitimate chronic pain.
Research has demonstrated that
when the mind is clouded by negative emotions, such as anger, hate, bitterness,
or depression, the body is unable to properly “turn off” pain signals arising from
lower in the body. Car accident victims
are often angry at the individual(s) who hit them, and frequently develop low
mood and/or anxiety. All these negative
emotions play a role in the development of chronic pain by way of something
pain specialists call, “Central sensitization.” Peripheral sensitization and maladaptive central nervous system (i.e.
brain) neuronal plasticity are also factors in the genesis of chronic
pain.
How does this relate to physician assisted
suicide?
If the recommendations provided
by the Special Joint Committee on Physician-Assisted Dying become law, there
will be many teenagers, parents, and grandparents killed against the will of
their family members (especially those suffering from depression). Prime
Minister Trudeau, it won’t be long and your children will be teenagers. You wouldn’t want someone to kill your
teenagers against your will. Why then
would you want to kill other teenagers against the will of their parents?
A family can eventually learn to
forgive a member who rashly commits suicide on their own. However, it will be extremely hard—if not
impossible—for Canadian families to forgive the doctors and politicians
responsible for their loved one’s death. The same rage that the Goldman’s displayed against O. J. Simpson will be
the same anger directed at you and many others by Canadian families. These angry family members will be at
significantly greater risk of developing depression and anxiety, with a high
likelihood of developing chronic pain from even minor injuries—and sometimes no
injury at all. For every one person you
kill against the will of the family, you run a very high risk of triggering a
lifetime of mental and/or physical illness/pain in at least one family member—and
possibly the entire family.
Furthermore, there are over 5,000
physicians across Canada in the Coalition for HealthCARE and Conscience,
committed to protecting conscience rights for health practitioners and
facilities. Many will refuse to kill
their patients, and refuse to refer patients to be killed. For every doctor’s license you consequently take
away, you will erase on average at least 2,000 patient encounters per doctor
per year. Then there’s the doctors who will
just quietly leave the country, and those who will refuse to move to Canada because
of the hostile environment where doctors are forced to work against their
consciences. Then add to this the number
of healthcare professionals who will drop out of palliative care and Geriatrics
for fear of losing their licenses. Do
the math and the number of Canadians affected are staggering.
Will all this not result in even more pain and
suffering for Canadians in the end?
Yes, there will always be individuals
who want to kill themselves at the first diagnosis of a chronic disease. And there will always be arguments saying
that not everyone has equal access to quality palliative care across Canada
where adequate pain control is very often achieved. But what kind of country would rather kill
its citizens than provide the necessary care and compassion they deserve?
Will the Liberal Party be popular
with Canadians 1 year, 2 years, or 3 years from now?
Will the Liberal Party be popular
with the Person who created the teenagers, parents, and grandparents that you
will kill?
Thank you very much for your kind
attention to this letter.
Sincerely,
Brad Burke, MD, FRCPC
Physical Medicine &
Rehabilitation
Cc The Honourable Jody
Wilson-Raybould, Minister of Justice
