Patients are often left to die without adequate pain relief and without emotional or spiritual comfort, the report concludes. Family members who want to care for the dying receive no financial breaks from government.
Medical students get virtually no training in pain management in Canadian medical schools.
And many doctors scrimp on pain medication because they fear criminal charges if the patient's life is shortened. Those palliative care programs that do exist tend to focus on cancer patients, the report notes. Fewer services exist for other diseases like Alzheimer's, respiratory failure and multiple sclerosis. Canadians have good reason to be concerned about these issues, chairwoman Sharon Carstairs said at a news conference. Every single one of us dies.