Australian Doctor Australian Doctor 17th November 2017 | Page 4

News
ASSISTED DYING DEBATE
Who did the
college consult?
Comment
Paul Smith
FOR the RACGP leader-
ship, the results of the Aus-
tralian Doctor survey isn’t
going to do what it wants
and make its difficulties go
away.
Voluntary assisted dying
will always be a fraught issue
for the medical profession.
It cuts too deep into the
very nature of medicine for
it to be otherwise.
QUESTION 1.2
But it is also partly
because whatever your posi-
tion, whatever your values,
it is easy to understand,
even share the fears of the
people who disagree with
you: the fears about the
bad deaths of terminally ill
patients, fears about the vul-
nerability of elderly patients
should voluntary euthanasia
become an option.
Some 420 GPs and GP
registrars responded to the
survey last week.
Clearly there is significant
backing for the college’s
statement declaring support
for the voluntary assisted
dying model, which is due
before the Victorian parlia-
ment this week.
But many more doctors
have questioned why the
college leadership suddenly
felt entitled to endorse the
laws and call for their imple-
mentation around Australia
with little or no debate.
As the results show,
only 19% of those GPs
responding believe the col-
lege should express its view
without formal consultation
with members. And that
consultation simply did not
happen.
What remains hard to
understand is that presi-
dent Dr Bastian Seidel has
yet to say whether the col-
lege statement of support
even went before college
council. Why the silence?
He says the college does not
wish to “inflame the dis-
course” through the media
on a “topic that should be
treated with dignity and
respect”. Many will read
that as a flimsy excuse.
This issue is important.
There is a large number of
college members, loyal and
long-standing, who will feel
uncomfortable being part of
an institution that is now
advocating for interventions
that they believe go against
the foundations of medical
ethics and their own con-
science.
The college president
needs to provide the pre-
cise mandate he has for his
statement, explain whether
in supporting the push for
voluntary assisted dying he
is speaking for the college or
just for himself.
GPs WHO SUPPORT VOLUNTARY ASSISTED DYING
n = 193
Should the RACGP retract its support for voluntary assisted dying?
21%
0
20
• YES •
40
60
79%
80
• NO •
100
Should the RACGP formally consult members before declaring
support
for 1.3
euthanasia?
QUESTION
QUESTION
2.2
ALL GPs AND GP REGISTRARS
Should the RACGP retract its support for voluntary assisted dying?
59%