Day 6

Did cultural sensitivity cost Makayla Sault her life?

The death of 11-year-old Makayla Sault, an aboriginal girl from Ontario who refused chemotherapy treatment for her leukemia in favour of alternative and traditional medicine, has raised a nationwide debate over the limits of cultural sensitivity. But would the decisions in Makayla's case have been different had she not been aboriginal?
(Connie Walker/CBC)

The death of 11-year-old Makayla Sault, an aboriginal girl from Ontario who refused chemotherapy treatment for her leukemia in favour of alternative and traditional medicine, has raised a nationwide debate over the limits of cultural sensitivity. But would the decisions in Makayla's case have been different had she not been aboriginal? Brent asks pediatrician and bioethicist Dr. Ian Mitchell, who co-wrote a newspaper editorial criticizing the decisions in Makayla's case. Brent also talks to internist Dr. Lisa Richardson, who co-authored an editorial this week about the need for more respect in the medical community towards First Nations patients.