null / Video Creative/Shutterstock.Denver, Colo., Apr 14, 2023 / 11:12 am (CNA).The Canadian government has released new recommended standards and advice for medical doctors concerning physician-assisted suicide that critics say do nothing to protect vulnerable patients from premature death.The new guidelines allow for "virtual" physician-assisted suicide, advise doctors not to notify family members when a patient requests suicide, and require medical professionals who object to physician-assisted suicide to refer patients to others who are willing to participate in their suicides.Health Canada released on March 27 the "Model Practice Standard for Medical Assistance in Dying," as guidance for the practice of assisted suicide, made legal in 2016 and known as medical aid in dying (MAiD). More than 31,000 people have already died by legal euthanasia in Canada. In an accompanying statement, Canada's national health department said the standards are designed to "ensure that MAi...