In December
The Suburban broke the story of a Protocol issued as a non-mandatory guideline by the Quebec Health Ministry to limit ER and ICU care during the pandemic. Two weeks ago we published another exclusive that Quebec was considering changing the Protocol into a mandatory Decree. That decree would put into force the refusal and withdrawal of critical care if a person did not meet a â70% survivability levelâ as determined by a three-person committee in each hospital.
We have been reporting weekly on the burgeoning consensus among doctors and lawyers against such a Decree. Criticism has focused not only on the violations of the right to life guarantees in the Canadian and Quebec Charters of Rights that such a Decree would entail, but more specifically on the discrimination against people based on age which would also constitute violations of guarantees against ageism in both Charters. Most seniors could never reach the 70% threshold. The Protocol even has a standard for infants and newborns that would be very difficult to meet in many cases.