The deVeber Institute
for Bioethics and Social Research

Quebec physicians who are proposing legal euthanasia misleadingly equate the use of analgesics for pain relief with euthanasia. Palliative care involves taking care of the patient unto death. It involves appropriate pain relief, but does not kill the patient and should not be confused with euthanasia. The legitimate medical practise of palliative care allows a person to die with a sense of dignity and respect, by caring for the person’s physical, psychosocial, and spiritual needs. Rather than proposing euthanasia, the Quebec College of Physicians could invest more resources into palliative care, which allows the dying to live the best that they can while they're dying.

The mission statement of the deVeber Institute states that the Institute, “conducts and disseminates research on topics connected to human life in its biological, social and ethical dimensions.” The Institute furthermore carries out the responsibility of communicating the findings of their research to the public. On May 21, 2009, the Institute did just that. Our Lady of Lourdes Roman Catholic Church (Wellesley Street E. & Sherbourne area, Toronto) graciously hosted a symposium conducted by the Institute on the topic of palliative care. The symposium offered a panel of speakers including Lenore McGuire (Palliative Care Coordinator at St. Joseph’s Hospital, Toronto), and Dr. Paul Zeni (a physician and palliative care specialist in Georgetown, Ontario). The symposium concluded with a warm and helpful Q&A period. The propositions and conclusions of both speakers are fundamental as palliative care is widely misunderstood.