No jail for B.C. doctor in attempted suicide case
Last Updated: Tuesday, June 12, 2007 | 7:08 AM PT
CBC News
A B.C. family physician has been given a two-year suspended sentence for assisting with the attempted suicide of an elderly woman at a seniors home in Vernon in July 2006.
Dr. Ranesh Kumar Sharma had earlier pleaded guilty to attempting to assist a suicide, admitting he provided the 92-year-old woman with enough pills to kill herself.
Dr. Ranesh Kumar Sharma of Vernon has been given a two-year suspended sentence.
(CBC)
The senior's suicide attempt was unsuccessful, as it was interrupted by a staff member at the nursing home.
The doctor's sentencing hearing in the Okanagan city on Monday drew a standing-room-only crowd, with many patients showing up to support Sharma.
The doctor had faced a maximum sentence of 14 years. But both the Crown and defence had indicated they would support a conditional sentence to be served in the community — a move the judge also indicated he would back.
The Crown has acknowledged that the woman wanted to end her own life because her health was failing, that it was her decision and that the doctor did not encourage her to kill herself.
Sharma's name has been erased as a member of the College of Physicians and Surgeons of British Columbia.
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