A Manitoba judge has ruled an 84-year-old man will remain on life support until a dispute over whether doctors can disconnect him without the family's permission can go to trial.
Samuel Golubchuk was admitted to the Grace Hospital in Winnipeg last October with heart disease and pneumonia. He also suffers from brain injuries sustained from a fall four years ago.
Golubchuk's family members have said taking him off life support to hasten his death would be tantamount to murder according to their Orthodox Jewish religious beliefs.
The case garnered international attention in December when Justice Perry Schulman granted the family's injunction in Court of Queen's Bench that allowed Golubchuk to stay connected to a ventilator and feeding tube.
Miriam Geller, Golubchuk's daughter, told CBC News that the family believes God is the one who makes decisions about life and death, not doctors. She said physicians have been wrong in the past and are wrong in this case.
Two weeks ago, the College of Physician and Surgeons of Manitoba released ethical guidelines governing how to decide to take patients off life-support equipment.
The guidelines say family members must be consulted if a patient is unable to communicate. However, doctors can make the final decision as long as a family is given a four-day notice of when treatment will end.
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Samuel Golubchuk was admitted to the Grace Hospital in Winnipeg last October with heart disease and pneumonia. He also suffers from brain injuries sustained from a fall four years ago.
Golubchuk's family members have said taking him off life support to hasten his death would be tantamount to murder according to their Orthodox Jewish religious beliefs.
The case garnered international attention in December when Justice Perry Schulman granted the family's injunction in Court of Queen's Bench that allowed Golubchuk to stay connected to a ventilator and feeding tube.
Miriam Geller, Golubchuk's daughter, told CBC News that the family believes God is the one who makes decisions about life and death, not doctors. She said physicians have been wrong in the past and are wrong in this case.
Two weeks ago, the College of Physician and Surgeons of Manitoba released ethical guidelines governing how to decide to take patients off life-support equipment.
The guidelines say family members must be consulted if a patient is unable to communicate. However, doctors can make the final decision as long as a family is given a four-day notice of when treatment will end.
Full story
Who do you think should have the final say in this case?
More...