A BC judge has intervened to halt a 53-year-old woman's medically assisted death just one day before she was scheduled to die — after her partner filed suit.The move came following the filing of a civil claim against the doctor who approved the procedure which argued that the woman, whose identity is protected, did not meet the criteria for MAiD as she only suffered from mental health issues.In his October 26 injunction, Justice Simon Corval barred Dr. Ellen Wiebe or any other healthcare professional from "causing the death" of the woman "by MAiD or any other means," warning that if his order is ignored, "he death will constitute a battery of [the patient], wrongful death and, potentially a criminal offence."According to the civil claim, filed by the woman's common-law partner, she had been denied MAiD in her home province and turned to BC to seek approval. After just one Zoom meeting with Wiebe, she was given the green light.While the woman had been diagnosed with "rapidly cycling bipolar 2 disorder," it was akathisia, a condition linked to changing doses of certain medications, upon which she launched her MAiD application."As she was reducing her medication," she injunction application noted, "[she] began describing distressing side-effects. She described having 'the horrors' or an inner sense of terror all day long, the inability to sleep at night, nightmares, the inability to lie down during the day due to a feeling of falling, the inability to sit or remain still, suicidal thoughts."She was said to have repeatedly expressed a desire to die and asked her partner on numerous occasions to kill her. Less than two weeks before her scheduled death, they went to a doctor in their home province for an emergency consultation and were informed that the akathisia was treatable, and that her symptoms could subside in as little as a few months.Court documents revealed that the woman's partner asked Wiebe if she had ever approved MAiD for someone with akathisia, and was told that she had not. When the partner suggested the woman's "unresolved mental health problems" were "probably not considered during the MAiD assessment," Wiebe "responded by stating that diagnosis does not matter, and that only quality of life mattered, and that this was [the woman's] right."The woman's partner alleged in her civil suit that Wiebe failed to look hard enough into her case, claiming that she didn't speak directly to her doctors or even request her medical records.Under current MAiD laws, to be considered one must "have a grievous and irremediable medical condition," and "be in an advanced state of decline that cannot be reversed." Those whose sole underlying condition is a mental illness are not eligible until at least March 2027. As CTV News reports, the allegations made in the civil suit have not yet been evaluated in court, and Wiebe has not responded.
A BC judge has intervened to halt a 53-year-old woman's medically assisted death just one day before she was scheduled to die — after her partner filed suit.The move came following the filing of a civil claim against the doctor who approved the procedure which argued that the woman, whose identity is protected, did not meet the criteria for MAiD as she only suffered from mental health issues.In his October 26 injunction, Justice Simon Corval barred Dr. Ellen Wiebe or any other healthcare professional from "causing the death" of the woman "by MAiD or any other means," warning that if his order is ignored, "he death will constitute a battery of [the patient], wrongful death and, potentially a criminal offence."According to the civil claim, filed by the woman's common-law partner, she had been denied MAiD in her home province and turned to BC to seek approval. After just one Zoom meeting with Wiebe, she was given the green light.While the woman had been diagnosed with "rapidly cycling bipolar 2 disorder," it was akathisia, a condition linked to changing doses of certain medications, upon which she launched her MAiD application."As she was reducing her medication," she injunction application noted, "[she] began describing distressing side-effects. She described having 'the horrors' or an inner sense of terror all day long, the inability to sleep at night, nightmares, the inability to lie down during the day due to a feeling of falling, the inability to sit or remain still, suicidal thoughts."She was said to have repeatedly expressed a desire to die and asked her partner on numerous occasions to kill her. Less than two weeks before her scheduled death, they went to a doctor in their home province for an emergency consultation and were informed that the akathisia was treatable, and that her symptoms could subside in as little as a few months.Court documents revealed that the woman's partner asked Wiebe if she had ever approved MAiD for someone with akathisia, and was told that she had not. When the partner suggested the woman's "unresolved mental health problems" were "probably not considered during the MAiD assessment," Wiebe "responded by stating that diagnosis does not matter, and that only quality of life mattered, and that this was [the woman's] right."The woman's partner alleged in her civil suit that Wiebe failed to look hard enough into her case, claiming that she didn't speak directly to her doctors or even request her medical records.Under current MAiD laws, to be considered one must "have a grievous and irremediable medical condition," and "be in an advanced state of decline that cannot be reversed." Those whose sole underlying condition is a mental illness are not eligible until at least March 2027. As CTV News reports, the allegations made in the civil suit have not yet been evaluated in court, and Wiebe has not responded.
