On transparency in health care guidelines. Editorial.

Abstract

Accessibility is one of the core requirements for health care guidelines. The present article offers some considerations on the subject and briefly describes the general situation in Canada following provisions recently adopted by the Supreme Court and, more specifically, developments in Quebec (regulations adopted by the Assemblee Nationale du Quebec), where the College des Medecins du Quebec has issued a “Practice Guideline for Medical Aid in Dying” (“Guide d’Exercice sur l’Aide Medicale a Mourir”). Without entering into the merits of the arguments dividing the supporters and opponents of euthanasia, the present article shows how access to the guideline is subject to restrictions that are unjustified from the point of view of medical ethics.