Canadian Woman Euthanized ‘Against Her Will’ After Husband Reported ‘Caregiver Burnout’

A Canadian woman in her 80s was euthanized ‘against her will’ through Canada’s medical assistance in dying program (MAiD), after her elderly husband told doctors she had changed her mind despite telling an assessor she wanted to live, according to a report released by the Office of the Chief Coroner. 

MAiD allows patients to request a painless death if an assessor agrees that they have a terminal condition which meets certain requirements. While most patients wait weeks for a decision, euthanasia can be performed as soon as the same-day if deemed medically urgent by a MAiD provider. 

According to the report by the Ontario MAiD Death Review Committee, concerns have been raised over questionable deaths. 

In this case, the woman – referred to as “Mrs. B,” had complications after a coronary artery bypass graft surgery. After a rapid decline, she opted for palliative care – and was sent home from the hospital for her husband to take care of her. As her condition worsened, the husband struggled to care for her despite visits by nurses. 

After she allegedly expressed her desire for MAiD to her family, her husband called a referral service, the report reads. Yet, Mrs. B told the assessor she ‘wanted to withdraw her requests, citing personal and religious values and beliefs,” and instead wanted inpatient hospice care. 

When her husband took her to the hospital the next morning, doctors deemed Mrs. B to be stable, but that her husband was “experiencing caregiver burnout.” A request by a doctor for in-patient hospice care due to her husband’s burnout was denied, after which her husband asked for a second assessor to weigh in, the Daily Mail reports.

After the second assessor judged her to be eligible for MAiD, the original assessor objected – expressing concerns over the alleged “urgency” of the request, and expressing the need for further evaluation. A request to meet with Mrs. B the next day was declined by the MAiD provider, as “the clinical circumstances necessitated an urgent provision.” 

Then, a third MAiD assessor agreed with the second one, and Mrs. B was euthanized that evening. 

According to the Coroner’s report, several members of a Review Committee “believed the short timeline did not allow all aspects of Mrs B’s social and end-of-life circumstances and care needs to be explored,” which included “the impact of being denied hospice care, additional care options, caregiver burden, consistency of the MAiD request, and divergent MAiD practitioner perspectives.”

“Many members brought forward concerns of possible external coercion arising from the caregiver’s experience of burnout and lack of access to palliative care in an in-patient or hospice setting,” the report notes. 

Others raised concerns over the fact that Mrs. B’s spouse was the primary person advocating and advocating access to MAiD, and there was scant documentation that she actually asked for it herself. 

Dr. Ramona Coelho, a family physician who’s on the committee, wrote a scathing review that was deeply critical of Mrs. B’s case, arguing that the focus should have been “on ensuring adequate palliative care and support for Mrs B and her spouse.”

“Hospice and palliative care teams should have been urgently re-engaged, given the severity of the situation. 

“Additionally, the MAiD provider expedited the process despite the first assessor’s and Mrs B’s concerns without fully considering the impact of her spouse’s burnout,” her letter continues. 

According to some, Canada has an assisted dying crisis. As the Epoch Times notes; 

Canada’s current approach to assisted suicide, especially in cases involving mental illness, represents such a threshold. Recent federal data indicate that more than 16,000 assisted suicide cases are approved annually in Canada, with an increasing proportion involving individuals with mental health challenges. This trend highlights the urgent need for policy reassessment and underscores the critical importance of addressing this issue.