Doctor Assisted Suicide in Canada
Assisted Suicide
In June 2016, Canada followed the lead of many European countries and American states and legalized doctor-assisted suicide. The legislation is very polarizing as some believe it has gone too far, while others believe we should move to the European model. Medically assisted suicide is defined as intentionally killing oneself with the assistance of a medical professional. There is a difference between medically assisted suicide and euthanasia. Assisted suicide requires the patient be informed of the process and voluntarily participates, while euthanasia involves a third party administering the lethal dose.
Eligibility – In order to qualify for medically assisted suicide, a patient must meet the following criteria:
• must be 18 years of age and covered by a provincial health services program. This is designed to stop non-residents coming to Canada to receive the procedure
• the person must have a grievous and irremediable medical condition and has made a voluntary request for medical assistance in dying that, in particular, was not made as a result of external pressure
• they give informed consent to receive medical assistance in dying after having been informed of the means that are available to relieve their suffering, including palliative care.
They have a grievous and irremediable medical condition only if they meet all of the following criteria:
• they have a serious and incurable illness, disease or disability
• they are in an advanced state of irreversible decline in capability
• that illness, disease or disability or that state of decline causes them enduring physical or psychological pain
• suffering that is intolerable to them and that cannot be relieved under conditions that they consider acceptable
• their natural death has become reasonably foreseeable, taking into account all of their medical circumstances, without a prognosis necessarily having been made as to the specific length of time that they have remaining
In other words, if death is not foreseeable, the assisted suicide option is not available.
There are protections for patients including the witnesses must not have a financial interest in the outcome. This normally means family members who are beneficiaries cannot be a witness to legal documents that permit the procedure. Consent must be expressed and can be withdrawn at any time, including the moment just before death.
One point of contention with Canada’s assisted suicide legislation is that it does not apply to patients with dementia or Alzheimer’s disease.
Belgium may have the most liberal suicide rules. Competent adults and certain minors are able to die by asking a doctor to inject them with a life-threatening drug. The only conditions that must be met are the patient must be in constant and unbearable pain and the condition must be incurable. The pain may be either emotional or physical. As a result of these rules, people from around the world are going to Belgium “to be put down.” Hence, we have a new term in our lexicon – tourist suicide.
