Two Canadian psychologists who recently raised alarm bells over Canada's MAiD program, tell the story of a woman in her 70s who sought and was approved for MAiD after not being able to make dinner for her family any longer.As originally reported in the New York Times, Doctors Gary Rodin and Madeline Li from the University of Toronto work with patients with terminal cancer, counseling and discussing the topic of MAiD with them when they're eligible.They also shared there is mounting fear among health professionals due to the increased rates of MAiD approvals.Both doctors also stressed MAiD seems to have begun being used not as a last resort, but sometimes, as a first option, instead of "careful reflection about it with a health provider.".They add that some should not be getting approved for it at all — like in the case of a woman in her 70s, one of the doctors' patients, who had lost her ability to cook.This impacted her quite severely, since she was the matriarch of her family and provided weekly Sunday dinners.This was her reason for seeking MAiD — without having the ability to provide for her family in this way, she felt she had lost her value to them.Though she had been approved to be euthanized, through counselling, she was able to understand she was valued by her family for who she was, not what she did for them. .With this realization, she decided not to end her life, "at least for now," the doctors stated."That Christmas, her family gathered and she sat proudly at the table, while others did the cooking and serving."Li and Rodin hope by exemplifying cases like this, it will inspire medical providers to pause and help MAiD patients truly consider and understand the alternatives that might also relieve their suffering and allow them the possibility of "more time to live meaningfully."They believe that prior to receiving MAiD patients should be given the benefit of counseling and reflective conversations..Li and Rodin point out this care is not usually given to patients considering MAiD, nor are its costs often fully funded by insurance, though both should be."It should be the standard of care and fully funded," Li and Rodin argue.They add that death should not be patients' only option when it comes to relieving pain that they can imagine.They say if Canada is to permit MAiD, it should "also ask whether it has done enough to help people sustain their sense of dignity and meaning in life," prior to allowing some to be euthanized..Physicians, Li and Rodin explain, are expected to understand what is driving a patient's preference, whether it might change, and what alternatives there are."This is called shared decision-making." They say this is standard practice in medicine, but not when it comes to Canada's euthanasia program.They also note that Canada has one of the most permissive euthanasia programs in the world, with "almost any form of subjectively intolerable suffering that has a medical basis, or even for medically unexplained physical symptoms," qualifying. .This is partly because, after MAiD became legal in 2016, it was only an option for those with a "reasonable foreseeable" death, though this detail was disregarded in 2021, when the feds removed it as a requirement.This is also likely a contributing factor to why Canada has the fastest-growing rate of euthanasia cases, increasing 16-fold in the eight years since legalization — with MAiD now accounting for 5% of all deaths in Canada.
