The family of a Winnipeg man at the centre of an end-of-life medical dispute is dropping its lawsuit against the Winnipeg Regional Health Authority.

The move ends any possibility that the continuation of the case would set a legal precedent in how to deal with dying patients on life support.

Samuel Golubchuk Z”L, 85, died June 24 after seven months on life support at Grace General Hospital, but not before he became the focus of a fight over the right to medical treatment after doctors at the hospital announced their intention to remove him from life support late last year.

Golubchuk’s children argued the move would hasten his death, violating his beliefs as an Orthodox Jew, and filed a lawsuit against the WRHA and his doctors.

They won a court injunction requiring the hospital to maintain life support until the matter could be argued in court but Golubchuk died before a trial could take place.

It was unclear after his death what would become of the lawsuit and its potential to set precedent for similar occurrences in the future, but a spokeswoman for the WRHA said yesterday that the suit will not go ahead.

“The lawyer for the family has notified us of his intent to drop the legal action,” said Heidi Graham.

The family’s lawyer, Neil Kravetsky, could not be reached for comment yesterday.

Graham said Golubchuk’s stay in the hospital, which prompted three doctors to quit taking shifts in his ward because they said it violated their ethics, may still result in policy shifts.

“The WRHA is reviewing the Golubchuk case to determine what, if any, changes need to be made,” Graham said. “As of right now the (College of Physicians and Surgeons of Manitoba’s) statement on withholding and withdrawing life-sustaining treatment does apply to all physicians working in our hospitals.”

The statement requires doctors who believe treatment is futile but cannot reach consensus with the patient’s family to consult another doctor, and if that doctor agrees, to tell the family specifically when treatment will be ceased.

Graham noted all three doctors who left Grace General Hospital over the case have since advised the WRHA of their intention to return.

(Source: Winnipeg Sun)