The CEO of the ALS Society of Canada Tammy Moore said one in four Ontarians (25%) living with ALS choose euthanasia through the Trudeau Liberals' Medical Assistance in Dying (MAiD) initiative. ALS, or amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (better known as Lou Gehrig's disease), affects a person’s motor neuron capacity. It involves progressive nerve cell degeneration in the spinal cord and brain and eventually leads to the person becoming paralyzed. Moore pointed to the failures in Ontario’s health care system when it comes to accommodating the extensive care required by patients suffering from chronic diseases such as ALS, of which cases in Canada are increasing. About 4,000 Canadians currently have the disease. “Today, one in four Ontarians with ALS choose medical assistance in dying and increasingly, they are citing poor support as the reason. We can do better. We must do better," Moore said, per Toronto Star. This comes after a June 2023 announcement by the Ontario government that the province will provide coverage for a new ALS treatment found to reduce ALS symptoms called Albrioza. .Albrioza is now covered under Ontario’s publicly funded drug program, Ontario Drug Benefit Exceptional Access Program, making the province the “first Canadian jurisdiction to cover the new treatment.”“Our government is giving people access to more treatment options by expanding public access to new medications and therapeutics,” Deputy Premier and Minister of Health Sylvia Jones said at the time. “Expanding Ontario’s drug program coverage to include Albrioza, will ensure that people living with ALS will benefit from this new treatment sooner and is another example of how our government is connecting more people in our province to the care they need.”The June news release stated, “an early phase clinical study of Albrioza demonstrated slowed disease progression, with an additional clinical study currently underway to provide additional insight.”Despite the clinical advances of the ALS drug and extra government funding for care, the ALS Society continues to push MAiD in its Palliative Care and End-of-Life Planning in ALS guide on its website. .When Prime Minister Justin Trudeau entered office in 2015, implementing government-sponsored euthanasia was one of his top priorities. By March 1 2016, a Calgary judge ruled an ALS patient was eligible for MAiD, the first assisted suicide death in Canada. A 2023 peer-reviewed, international report published by CTV revealed the majority of organ donations in Canada are overwhelmingly driven by people who have died through MAiD, particularly patients with diseases such as ALS and Parkinson’s.
The CEO of the ALS Society of Canada Tammy Moore said one in four Ontarians (25%) living with ALS choose euthanasia through the Trudeau Liberals' Medical Assistance in Dying (MAiD) initiative. ALS, or amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (better known as Lou Gehrig's disease), affects a person’s motor neuron capacity. It involves progressive nerve cell degeneration in the spinal cord and brain and eventually leads to the person becoming paralyzed. Moore pointed to the failures in Ontario’s health care system when it comes to accommodating the extensive care required by patients suffering from chronic diseases such as ALS, of which cases in Canada are increasing. About 4,000 Canadians currently have the disease. “Today, one in four Ontarians with ALS choose medical assistance in dying and increasingly, they are citing poor support as the reason. We can do better. We must do better," Moore said, per Toronto Star. This comes after a June 2023 announcement by the Ontario government that the province will provide coverage for a new ALS treatment found to reduce ALS symptoms called Albrioza. .Albrioza is now covered under Ontario’s publicly funded drug program, Ontario Drug Benefit Exceptional Access Program, making the province the “first Canadian jurisdiction to cover the new treatment.”“Our government is giving people access to more treatment options by expanding public access to new medications and therapeutics,” Deputy Premier and Minister of Health Sylvia Jones said at the time. “Expanding Ontario’s drug program coverage to include Albrioza, will ensure that people living with ALS will benefit from this new treatment sooner and is another example of how our government is connecting more people in our province to the care they need.”The June news release stated, “an early phase clinical study of Albrioza demonstrated slowed disease progression, with an additional clinical study currently underway to provide additional insight.”Despite the clinical advances of the ALS drug and extra government funding for care, the ALS Society continues to push MAiD in its Palliative Care and End-of-Life Planning in ALS guide on its website. .When Prime Minister Justin Trudeau entered office in 2015, implementing government-sponsored euthanasia was one of his top priorities. By March 1 2016, a Calgary judge ruled an ALS patient was eligible for MAiD, the first assisted suicide death in Canada. A 2023 peer-reviewed, international report published by CTV revealed the majority of organ donations in Canada are overwhelmingly driven by people who have died through MAiD, particularly patients with diseases such as ALS and Parkinson’s.
