Significant opinions are now floating on whether doctors have the omnipotent right to pull the plug...
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Doctors have no legal right to withdraw life support against a patient's wishes, a national health policy expert said at an end-of-life conference in Winnipeg Monday.
Dr. Jocelyn Downie, Canada Research chairwoman of health law and policy and professor of law and medicine at Dalhousie University, said there is no legal precedent that gives doctors the authority to remove a patient's feeding tube or ventilator against their wishes or to decide whether they meet a "minimum goal" to continue living.
She said judges in previous court cases involving do-not-resuscitate orders haven't ruled whether this power lies with doctors. The question of who decides, Downie said, is still wide open before the courts.
Downie's comments run counter to new guidelines issued by the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Manitoba in February that say the final decision on whether to pull the plug on a patient rests with the doctor.
The guidelines were issued less than two months after a Winnipeg family sought a court injunction when Grace Hospital doctors decided to withdraw 84-year-old Samuel Golubchuk's life support.....................
MDs' legal right to pull plug disputed
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