A national organization that advocates for adults with intellectual disabilities is calling the recent medically assisted death of a man at Chilliwack General Hospital (CGH) distressing and an “injustice.” Alan Nichols was admitted to CGH in June of this year suffering from dehydration and malnourishment. The Canadian Association for Community Living (CACL) and Nichols’

  I am an adult psychiatrist who has worked in public sector psychiatry in the US and the UK. In both countries, physicians struggle with the ethics and professional meaning of legalized or proposed physician-assisted suicide (PAS). I was recently asked by an organization to host a CME course titled “Best Practices in the End-of-Life

  Serious concerns have been raised about the implementation of Canada’s Medical Assistance in Dying (MAiD) legislation after a 61-year-old depressed but otherwise healthy man was euthanised in the province of British Columbia. Alan Nichols, a former school janitor who lived alone and struggled with depression, was admitted to Chilliwack General Hospital, BC, in June after

  Legislation has once again been introduced in Wisconsin to legalize assisted suicide.  If passed, Wisconsin legislators risk unnecessarily endangering the lives of people with disabilities. “Assisted suicide presents a clear and present danger to the many people who struggle to access quality health care either because they can’t afford it or because they are

The recent court decision in Quebec that invalidated the “reasonably foreseeable” death clause  of both the federal and Quebec assisted suicide laws laid the foundation for further legal challenges in the expansion of Canada’s assisted suicide laws.  Opponents of assisted suicide often warn of the incremental strategy behind assisted suicide, pointing to the slippery slope

Physician-assisted death — euthanasia — is lawful in three European countries, as well as Colombia and Canada. It is illegal, still, in the United States, though physicians in 10 states may supply lethal doses to terminally ill patients for self-administration. And the U.S. ban may not last forever: 72 percent of Americans support euthanasia, according to

A bill introduced last week to legalize assisted suicide would be disastrous for Wisconsin. It would shrink end-of-life treatment options for older adults, people with disabilities and others facing terminal diagnoses. Assisted suicide compromises the role of a physician as a healer and runs contrary to the position of the largest medical society in the

It’s no surprise that the the District’s assisted suicide program isn’t popular. When it was legalized two years ago, health officials estimated as many as 10 people annually would elect to die this way. The reality? Two of four individuals who registered to die via assisted suicide went through with it, and only minimal information

  Something north of 8,000 people have died in Canada after its Medical Aid in Dying legislation came into effect in 2016. And now it will probably become easier after a decision by a Québec judge. This week Superior Court Justice Christine Baudouin struck down as unconstitutional a provision in the federal legislation which restricts

  Doctors, patients, and disability rights advocates spent much of Wednesday laying out their arguments against a bill that would allow physician-assisted suicide in Minnesota.   Watch the video on Fox News…

The acquittal of a Dutch doctor who drugged and euthanized a dementia patient against her will sparked outrage in the United States as assisted suicide bills spread. On Wednesday, a Dutch court acquitted a doctor who admitted to administering lethal medication to a dementia patient with the help of her family. The 74-year-old woman had

A Quebec Superior Court judge has invalidated sections of both the federal and Quebec laws on [assisted suicide], ruling Wednesday they were too restrictive and therefore unconstitutional. Justice Christine Baudouin found in favour of two Quebecers struck by incurable degenerative diseases who’d argued they were denied a medically assisted death under laws that are discriminatory.

Sens. John Hoffman, DFL-Champlin, and Jim Abeler, R-Anoka. (Courtesy of the Minnesota Legislature)         We are facing another wave of trying to legalize assisted suicide in Minnesota. Three years ago, legislation would have authorized doctors to prescribe lethal doses of medication for patients to intentionally end their own lives. The bill failed

Patient autonomy erodes away when doctors, insurers, and a profit-driven healthcare system make qualitative judgements on whether a person’s life is worth living.  Sadly, murder has become legitimized as medicine. “A Dutch doctor was acquitted Wednesday in a landmark trial that prosecutors and physicians hope will help clarify how the country’s 2002 euthanasia law can

All of us are moved by cases of people suffering from terrible illnesses such as Motor Neuron Disease, but these cases do not provide justification for ripping up long held and essential protections for disabled and vulnerable people. By treating those who are terminally ill, disabled, or have chronic conditions differently in law, we send

Assisted suicide laws send the message that under difficult circumstances, some lives are not worth living. Unfortunately, this is a message that will be heard not only by terminally ill individuals, but by all vulnerable persons who are tempted to take their own lives. Suicide is now a public health crisis: according to the CDC suicide

In response to Assemblywoman Galef’s letter (“Support the Medical Aid in Dying Act”), we should not forget what Derek Humphry, co-founder of the Hemlock Society (now “Compassion & Choices) said in his book: “…economics, not the quest for broadened individual liberties or increased autonomy, will drive assisted suicide to the plateau of acceptable practice.” Derek

  Opponents of assisted suicide urge lawmakers to focus on improving access to quality palliative care and assisted living for the seriously ill, not assisted dying.  This is especially relevant given the last 20 years of data out of Oregon showing that the top 5 reasons patients go through with assisted suicide have to do