Is euthanasia profitable?

The economic efficiency of legalizing euthanasia is predicted

Anna Stavina, XX2 century

Providing those in need with medical care during voluntary retirement will not lead to an increase in the total cost of medical services in Canada. Moreover, it will help to save from 34.7 to 138.8 million US dollars annually. This conclusion was reached by the authors of the study Cost analysis of medical assistance in dying in Canada, recently published in Canadian Medical Association Journal. The savings significantly exceed the direct costs associated with the introduction of euthanasia into clinical practice – they range from 1.5 to 14.8 million US dollars. However, the authors of the work note that the change in the cost of medical care should not become a factor affecting the decision-making of the doctor and the patient in each case.

The legalization of euthanasia occurred in Canada recently. Now the country's medical system needs to adapt in order to begin providing assistance in voluntary retirement.

"We do not propose to consider euthanasia as a way to reduce the cost of medical services," write the authors of the paper, Dr. Aaron Trachtenberg and Dr. Braden Manns from the University of Calgary. "On an individual level, neither patients nor doctors should think about the cost of treatment, making a very personal decision to request this service or provide it."

The cost of treatment and the burden on the budget increases in cases when the patient is close to death. For example, in the Canadian province of Manitoba, approximately 20% of all health care costs are accounted for by patients living their last 6 months. At the same time, the proportion of such patients does not exceed 1% of the total population.

The researchers combined data from the Netherlands and Belgium, countries where euthanasia is legal, with Canadian information on the cost of providing medical care to patients at the terminal stage of the disease. The model assumed that euthanasia would account for 1 to 4% of all deaths, and in 80% of cases these would be patients suffering from oncological diseases. In 60% of cases, patients in the absence of euthanasia would have died a month later, in 40% – a week.

To estimate the total cost of euthanasia, the researchers separately calculated the options in which it will be resorted to in 1, 2, 3 and 4% of cases. Subgroups were also created for different categories of patients, taking into account gender, age and the cost of the last month or last week of treatment.

The authors note that Dutch and Belgian data on euthanasia were used with restrictions. In these countries, minors, people with dementia and patients suffering from diseases that do not lead to death can receive medical assistance in voluntary retirement. In Canada, euthanasia is available only to those who have already turned 18 and whose death is imminent in the near future. In addition, the cost of providing medical services to terminal patients was determined based on data provided by the province of Ontario, so the results obtained may not be representative for the rest of Canada.

"Our work is focused exclusively on the financial side of the issue," the authors note. – In order to fully assess the impact of the legalization of euthanasia on the country's economy, additional research is needed. In particular, it is necessary to find out – on an individual level – the reasons why Canadians decide to seek medical help in passing away, how they assess their suffering in comparison with death. This and other aspects should be carefully studied."

However, there is an alternative opinion. In a comment to the publication, Dr. Peter Tanuseputro, a doctor from the Ottawa Hospital Research Institute, notes that Canada needs to improve the quality of palliative care. This would help improve the care of patients in the terminal stages of the disease.

"The potential savings [described by the authors] should be considered in the context of the disproportionate and often random nature of palliative care in Canada,– writes Dr. Tanuseputro. – Apart from several successful exemplary programs, the country as a whole suffers from a shortage of palliative care. That's why in Canada still has this aggressive and extremely expensive near-death care, and that's why the euthanasia implementation program has turned out to be so economically beneficial."

Portal "Eternal youth" http://vechnayamolodost.ru  24.01.2017