NANCY MORRISON: CANADA’S “DOCTOR DEATH?”

HALIFAX, Feb 9 (LSN)—Nancy Morrison, the Halifax respirologist charged with murder in the 1996death of her patient Paul Mills, will appear in court today for a preliminary hearing.  Her lawyerJoel Pink says he is not discussing a plea bargain with the Crown. Judge Hughes Randall is to decidewithin two weeks whether the evidence in the case warrants a prosecution.  Morrison's arrest has ignited a push for legalizing euthanasia, as it is strongly suspected the caseinvolves “mercy” killing. From the moment of her arrest, the media trumpeted Morrison as a courgeous,exemplary physician, who was well-liked around the hospital. Local newspapers,  The HalifaxChronicle-Herald and the Mail Star, went so far as to run full-page stories on the front of theircommentary sections, praising the euthanasia program in the Netherlands and the “thrill of dying.”  The results of the media campaign have paid off. Supposedly in response to public pressure,  prosecutors have requested that the charge be reduced from first degree murder to manslaughter.  Furthermore, when charged, Morrison was suspended from her duties with pay, but has since been permitted to resume her practice. Haligonian pro-lifer Herman Wills says confidence in the city’s medical establishment has been weakened. “A lot of my peers are now frightened to death of the hospital,” says Wills.