Changes to MAiD laws will allow some patients whose deaths are foreseeable to provide advance directives regarding medical assistance in dying.
Dr. Richard Shulman
Dr. Shulman is a geriatric psychiatrist at Trillium Health Partners and is an assistant professor at the University of Toronto. He is medical director of the Capacity Clinic and available for independent medical-legal capacity assessments.
I suggest that improved screening for vulnerability to abuse is clearly needed for seniors appointing family members as attorneys for property.
Evaluation of decision-making capacity is inherent to the practice of law and medicine and is not the exclusive responsibility or expertise of either. Lawyers may need to assess (among other things) capacity to instruct counsel; to provide evidence; to stand trial; to appoint or revoke Powers of Attorney; to make…
As reported in the media[i] [ii] [iii], Nova Scotia’s appeals court recently heard a case involving a woman who is trying to stop her husband from receiving medical assistance in dying (MAiD). The woman is appealing a lower court decision that rejected her request for an interlocutory injunction against her…
Section 7 of the Health Care Consent Act (1996)[i] provides direction for restraint and confinement in a care facility. It states: “This Act does not affect the common law duty of a caregiver to restrain or confine a person when immediate action is necessary to prevent serious bodily harm to…
Dr. Shulman reflects on his experiences with COVID-19 in the Seniors Mental Health Unit at Mississauga Hospital.
Financial elder abuse is defined by the World Health Organisation as the illegal or improper exploitation or use of funds or resources of the older person.[i] The misuse of a senior’s funds and assets involves the use of the senior’s funds without that senior’s knowledge and/or full consent, or, in…
Last month I wrote about the issue of consent for CPR, explaining that the Court in Wawrzyniak v. Livingstone confirmed that a physician’s duty is to his or her patient and not the interests of the substitute decision-maker (SDM). Treatments that are not believed to be in the interests of…
The case of Wawrzyniak v. Livingstone, 2019 ONSC 4900 (CanLII) is a landmark decision that readers may find interesting. It clarifies physicians’ obligations with respect to the writing of no-CPR (cardiopulmonary resuscitation) orders and the provision of CPR in Ontario hospitals. The decision has led to the College of Physicians…
Readers in Ontario are likely familiar with Elizabeth Tracy Mae Wettlaufer, a former registered nurse, who confessed to murdering eight senior citizens and attempting to murder six others in southwestern Ontario long term care (LTC) homes between 2007 and 2016. Following her criminal conviction, the province of Ontario established a…