Donald Low Death Case Study

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Part 2: The Interview: Dr. Donald Low on Dying with Dignity
After spending years of his life researching, teaching future medical students as Professor at the University of Toronto in the Department of Laboratory Medicine and Pathobiology, and being recognized as an international authority in microbiology and infectious diseases, Dr. Donald Low was about to face the biggest challenge of his life. On February 7th, 2010, he was diagnosed as having a brain stem tumor. As an intern he knew that his prognosis was not good, and although he could accept the idea of his own death, his most difficult task after diagnosis was telling his family.
He is not afraid of dying, but his greatest fear was how he was going to die and what that end would look like. He already knew how debilitating the effects of the cancer would be, and that it would ultimately render him unable to care for himself, and riddles with pain that would be eased by Palliative care. In his search for help and alternatives options for death he discovered that in Canada there is no support for dying with dignity. It was legalized in other countries and he was envious of those who had access to this kind of help. Here in Canada, it is illegal and there is much opposition to the idea of assisted suicide. That is why Dr. Low would record his heart-felt video and plea about the issue dying with dignity in Canada. …show more content…

I believe that everyone should have the right to appropriate medical care in Canada. Whether it is pain and symptom management or access to dying with dignity, it should be our right as citizens to decide for ourselves what we feel is our best option for care. Patients need to be given all the information about their condition and they should be given the opportunity to be involved in their own

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