A new report out of Ontario that details the deaths of patients with non-life threatening illnesses indicates the lack of safeguards around state-sanctioned suicide in Canada. The report, Medical Assistance in Dying (MAiD): Marginalization Data Perspectives further indicates MAiD is most prevalent in poorer neighbourhoods. . The three-part report, recently released by the Ontario chief coroner’s MAiD death review committee, indicates a significant amount of deaths by the Trudeau Liberals’ taxpayer-funded Medical Assistance in Dying (MAiD) program are issued to non-terminal patients. Of Ontario MAiD deaths in 2023, 80% received palliative care. Other recipients of assisted suicide did not suffer terminal illness but had issues like vaccine injuries, mental health disorders and non-life threatening health issues. The report highlights multiple cases of Ontarians who’ve died through MAiD and didn’t have a foreseeable death due to their illnesses. .According to the Ontario report, one man in his 40s sought state euthanasia because he “experienced suffering and functional decline following three vaccinations for COVID-19. When “no unifying diagnosis was confirmed” after multiple consultations with health experts, the patient, who had a history of depression, personality disorders and “intrusive thoughts of dying” signed up for MAiD. “No pathological findings were found at the time of post-mortem examination,” wrote the coroner. “The cause of death following post-mortem examination was provided as post COVID-19 vaccination somatic symptom disorder with post-traumatic stress disorder and depressive disorder.” .A second male in his 40s with “longstanding severe gastric and duodenal ulcers with unknown etiology” and multiple mental illnesses, including depression, anxiety, narcissistic personality disorder, bipolar mood disorder type 2 and chronic suicidal ideations,” sought MAiD after a failed suicide attempt. He was then “deemed by psychiatry to be capable of participating in the MAiD process, and the suicide attempt was determined to be a reflection of profound existential suffering.”Further, a psychiatrist documented that neither his “psychiatric illness nor suicidal ideations were facilitating the request for MAiD.” .A third case details a woman in her 50s with “multiple chemical sensitivity syndrome (MCSS)” and “a history of depression, anxiety, suicidality and post-traumatic stress disorder related to childhood trauma.” She couldn’t find a place to live that was conducive to her MCSS and sought MAiD. Finally, another man in his 40s with inflammatory bowel disease (IBS) struggled to maintain employment or a social network due to his debilitating illness, and relied on his family for financial support and housing. He had a history of mental illness, suicidality and on-going alcohol and opioid abuse. During an evaluation, a psychiatrist told him of the option to undergo state suicide. While he “was believed to have maintained decisional capability, his substance use was not explored in the MAiD assessments, and he was not offered addiction treatments.”The patient’s family was left out of the entire MAiD process. “The MAiD provider documented that the family had concerns about his request for MAiD” and then “personally transported (him) in their vehicle to an external location” to give him MAiD. .Prime Minister Justin Trudeau legalized MAiD within months of first being elected in 2016. The Supreme Court struck down the prohibition on assisted suicide in Canada’s Criminal Code, and the Liberals pushed Bill C-14, a law that allowed it — at the time, strictly for people whose natural deaths were “reasonably foreseeable.” .Another Liberal MAiD Bill C-7, which went into effect in March 2021, amended the legislative requirement for death to be “reasonably foreseeable,” thus launching two separate tracks of so-called “safeguards” — Track One for reasonably foreseeable natural deaths and Track Two for non-reasonably foreseeable natural deaths. The bill states that someone with a sole mental illness doesn't qualify for MAiD, a provision extended until March 2027. Since the 2021 legislation passed, 2.6% of all Ontario MAiD deaths were through Track Two. Of the 4,644 MAiD deaths reported, 116 were deaths identified as Track 2.
A new report out of Ontario that details the deaths of patients with non-life threatening illnesses indicates the lack of safeguards around state-sanctioned suicide in Canada. The report, Medical Assistance in Dying (MAiD): Marginalization Data Perspectives further indicates MAiD is most prevalent in poorer neighbourhoods. . The three-part report, recently released by the Ontario chief coroner’s MAiD death review committee, indicates a significant amount of deaths by the Trudeau Liberals’ taxpayer-funded Medical Assistance in Dying (MAiD) program are issued to non-terminal patients. Of Ontario MAiD deaths in 2023, 80% received palliative care. Other recipients of assisted suicide did not suffer terminal illness but had issues like vaccine injuries, mental health disorders and non-life threatening health issues. The report highlights multiple cases of Ontarians who’ve died through MAiD and didn’t have a foreseeable death due to their illnesses. .According to the Ontario report, one man in his 40s sought state euthanasia because he “experienced suffering and functional decline following three vaccinations for COVID-19. When “no unifying diagnosis was confirmed” after multiple consultations with health experts, the patient, who had a history of depression, personality disorders and “intrusive thoughts of dying” signed up for MAiD. “No pathological findings were found at the time of post-mortem examination,” wrote the coroner. “The cause of death following post-mortem examination was provided as post COVID-19 vaccination somatic symptom disorder with post-traumatic stress disorder and depressive disorder.” .A second male in his 40s with “longstanding severe gastric and duodenal ulcers with unknown etiology” and multiple mental illnesses, including depression, anxiety, narcissistic personality disorder, bipolar mood disorder type 2 and chronic suicidal ideations,” sought MAiD after a failed suicide attempt. He was then “deemed by psychiatry to be capable of participating in the MAiD process, and the suicide attempt was determined to be a reflection of profound existential suffering.”Further, a psychiatrist documented that neither his “psychiatric illness nor suicidal ideations were facilitating the request for MAiD.” .A third case details a woman in her 50s with “multiple chemical sensitivity syndrome (MCSS)” and “a history of depression, anxiety, suicidality and post-traumatic stress disorder related to childhood trauma.” She couldn’t find a place to live that was conducive to her MCSS and sought MAiD. Finally, another man in his 40s with inflammatory bowel disease (IBS) struggled to maintain employment or a social network due to his debilitating illness, and relied on his family for financial support and housing. He had a history of mental illness, suicidality and on-going alcohol and opioid abuse. During an evaluation, a psychiatrist told him of the option to undergo state suicide. While he “was believed to have maintained decisional capability, his substance use was not explored in the MAiD assessments, and he was not offered addiction treatments.”The patient’s family was left out of the entire MAiD process. “The MAiD provider documented that the family had concerns about his request for MAiD” and then “personally transported (him) in their vehicle to an external location” to give him MAiD. .Prime Minister Justin Trudeau legalized MAiD within months of first being elected in 2016. The Supreme Court struck down the prohibition on assisted suicide in Canada’s Criminal Code, and the Liberals pushed Bill C-14, a law that allowed it — at the time, strictly for people whose natural deaths were “reasonably foreseeable.” .Another Liberal MAiD Bill C-7, which went into effect in March 2021, amended the legislative requirement for death to be “reasonably foreseeable,” thus launching two separate tracks of so-called “safeguards” — Track One for reasonably foreseeable natural deaths and Track Two for non-reasonably foreseeable natural deaths. The bill states that someone with a sole mental illness doesn't qualify for MAiD, a provision extended until March 2027. Since the 2021 legislation passed, 2.6% of all Ontario MAiD deaths were through Track Two. Of the 4,644 MAiD deaths reported, 116 were deaths identified as Track 2.
