Manitoba judge disagrees with MDs in "Canada's Terry Schiavo" case

An elderly Manitoba man’s last gasps of life are at the centre of a growing national controversy over end-of-life decision-making.

Yesterday, a judge extended an injunction barring physicians from withdrawing the ventilation and feeding tube that have been sustaining Samuel Golubchuk (pictured right) for about four months now. The judge's extension is in despite opposition to the positions of the attending doctors, the hospital and the provincial College of Physicians and Surgeons.

The Winnipeg Free Press reports:

Golubchuk’s son Percy and daughter, Miriam Geller, expressed relief after hearing the judge’s decision.

“God is with us,” Geller said. “This is for all the people in Canada and the world.”

“Doctors are not always right,” said Percy Golubchuk. “God is the main doctor.”

Here’s the background on Mr Golubchuk, from an article in the National Review of Medicine’s February issue:

Samuel Golubchuk, aged 84, was admitted to Grace Hospital in Winnipeg in October with pneumonia and pulmonary hypertension. He had suffered a brain injury in 2003 from a fall, for which he had part of his brain removed. His condition deteriorated rapidly while in hospital and doctors told the family they wanted to take him off life support on November 30, 2007. The family refused, citing their Orthodox Jewish faith. An injunction over-ruling the doctors was granted while the court decides Mr Golubchuk's fate. On January 11, 2008, the judge heard that Mr Golobchuk had improved, regaining some neurological function and was classified on his chart as "awake."

Wednesday’s extension of the injunction runs contrary to the policy guidelines published last month by the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Manitoba, to fill the legal void created by the absence of any legislation that could serve as a guide on this case. You can read the news release here (PDF) and the full guidelines here (PDF). The guidelines say doctors have the authority to make independent do-not-resuscitate (DNR) decisions, though it also says families should be allowed sufficient time -- four days -- to appeal doctors’ decisions or seek an injunction.

That new policy hasn’t gone over terribly well.

"I think the College was irresponsible," Mr Golubchuk’s lawyer, Neil Kravetsky, told the Winnipeg Free Press. "They'd better smarten up before they issue directives that may border on criminal."

LifeNews.com, an American pro-life news website, has called the Golubchuk case “Canada’s Terry Shiavo,” in reference to the 2005 Florida case that ended in a judge deciding in favour of Ms Schiavo's husband, who wanted to withdraw life support, rather than the throngs of activists and politicians who piled on to push for continuing her care.


UPDATE, February 19: Terri Schiavo's brother has decided to throw his support behind the Golubchuk family.

Photo: Samuelgolubchuk.com, a website set up by Mr Golubchuk’s family.

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