Medically assistance in dying (MAID= Bill C14) for eligible Canadians was passed by federal legislation in June 2016. To recap, eligibility includes:
- Being 18 years and older and mentally competent
- Having a grievous and irremediable medical condition
- Making a voluntary request for MAID that is not the result of outside pressure or influence
- Providing informed consent.
Grievous and irremediable has been defined as:
- Having a serious illness, disease or disability
- Being in an advanced state of decline that cannot be reversed
- Experiencing unbearable physical or mental suffering from your illness, disease, disability or state of decline that cannot be relieved under conditions that you consider acceptable
- Being at a point where your natural death has become reasonably foreseeable which takes into account all of your medical circumstances and does not require a specific prognosis as to how long you have left to live
One does not have to a fatal or terminal condition to be eligible for medical assistance in dying.
Informed consent means receiving all of the information required to make a decision at the time of your request AND immediately before medical assistance in dying is provided.[1]
Given the above criteria, for those individuals who have been diagnosed with a dementia and have indicated that when in the future, they have declined to a point when they no longer (recognize family/ communicate/ feed themselves/ respond to those around them/able to get out of bed/breath on their own) have not been eligible to request MAID.
This past August 2019, a Victoria man became one of the first Canadians with a dementia diagnosis to have received MAID. Dr. Stefanie Green is the physician who provided the medical assistance. In a recent interview she shared: “His care ‘seemed very much on the edge….The risk of not meeting the eligibility criteria, or not being found to have done so properly, is a criminal offence, which leaves me liable to go to jail for up to 14 year.’”[2]
Dr. Green expressed: “This is not an expansion of our law….This is a maturing of the understanding of what we’re doing.”
This is a difficult and very important topic. A team of Canadian experts recently authored a paper to provide guidance to clinicians who assess and provide MAID in Canada. Their report is linked here https://camapcanada.ca/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/CPG-dementia.pdf.
I found the examples in the Appendix reflected the medical status of many clients with whom I have worked over the years and I wonder how many wanted a different ending.
[1] https://www.canada.ca/en/health-canada/services/medical-assistance-dying.html
[2] https://www.cbc.ca/radio/thesundayedition/the-sunday-edition-for-october-27-2019-1.5335017/b-c-man-is-one-of-the-first-canadians-with-dementia-to-die-with-medical-assistance-1.5335025
3 Comments
Suzanne S.
October 28, 2019 - 2:11 pmAudrey, I always look forward to your informative write-ups expressed objectively yet with empathy. MAID was recently a route taken by a close family member – it was handled with professionalism and grace by the attendants. It can be a gift to the recipient and their family.
Thank you for addressing this.
depolagi
November 29, 2019 - 7:44 amIt’s difficult to find educated people on this subject, but
you seem like you know what you’re talking about! Thanks
GordonOvalp
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