Sharp rise in the number of medically assisted deaths in Canada sparks concerns

BY PAUL JUNOR

It has been eight years now since the federal government passed the Medical Assistance in Dying (MAID) Bill in Canada. The passage of Bill C-14 in 2016 after the Supreme Court ruling in 2015 in the case of Carter Canada ruled that the Charter of Rights and Freedoms are violated if there is complete ban on assisted dying. Many believe that as a nation we have passed the point of no return and there is not much we can do to change course. The legalization of assisted death has opened Pandora’s box. The passage of a bill on February 26^th, 2024, to delay MAID for mental illness in Ottawa is good news, but too late.

One of the challenges that legislators have to deal with in Ottawa is when they should pass legislation to extend MAID to people who suffer from mental illness. On Thursday, February 1^st, 2024, they tabled a bill that delayed this extension until 2027. They hope that four years from now they will be able to come to some sort of consensus.

In an op-ed piece in the Toronto Star on Tuesday, February 6^th, the writer raises concerns about the dramatic rise in MAID provisions and our limited understanding about what’s driving the increase. The article quotes data that show that between 2019 and 2022, there was an increase in assisted deaths by an average of 31.1%. There were over 13,000 assisted deaths in 2022, which represents approximately four percent of the total number of deaths in Canada. This rapid increase “Makes Canada the fastest MAID adopter in history,” according to an analysis obtained from Health Canada’s Fourth Annual Report on Medical Assistance in Dying in Canada. If MAID was listed as a cause of death by Statistics Canada, it would account for the sixth major cause of death in Canada.

This is great cause for concern as it begs the question, “What is driving this significant escalation in the number of people who are choosing assisted dying as a resort to deal with the pain and suffering of this present world?”

There is presently anecdotal evidence that seems to indicate that a lack of economic, or social support and “loneliness or isolation ” are possible factors. Approximately 17% ascribed loneliness as a factor in their decision to seek MAID.

The fact that the World Health Organization does not document physicians code MAID deaths, but instead ascribes it to the underlying condition makes it hard to know the exact figure. The data on MAID that have occurred within Canada in the past two years indicate reasons for concerns. At the outset of MAID all that was required was that a patient meet all of the following criteria which include a serious illness, or disability, in an “advanced state” of decline that could not be reversed, experiencing unbearable physical, or mental suffering, and when natural death was “reasonably foreseeable.”

Many of the troubling and alarming situations result from what motivated Canadians to consider MAIDS. There is the case of Alan Nichols who according to The Associated Press, mentioned that hearing loss was his medical status, but opted for MAID after being hospitalized for suicidal ideation.