A judge in British Columbia has issued a rare last-minute order denying a woman access to euthanasia after doctors in her home province refused to approve the request.
The order, granted to the woman’s common-law partner, prevents Vancouver doctor Ellen Wiebe, or any other medical professional, from “causing the death” of an Alberta woman within the next 30 days.
The court order comes as the country remains embroiled in a testy debate over the expansion of medical aid in dying, or Maid. Earlier this week, Quebec became the first province to allow people to make a decision years in advance — a violation of federal law.
Although official figures show that the vast majority of people accessing Maid have terminal illnesses, critics worry that a small but growing proportion of cases reflects poverty and social inequality that is pushing people to end their lives. end.
In the British Columbia case, the order comes after the woman’s partner filed a civil claim alleging that Wiebe negligently approved the procedure for a legally ineligible patient, and if she administered Maid “would constitute a battery (the patient), wrongful death and possibly a criminal offence,” the Canadian Press said.
According to court documents, the 53-year-old woman traveled from Alberta to B.C. to access Maid after doctors in her home province refused to grant approval.
The woman had applied for Maid citing akathisia, a movement disorder associated with changing doses of psychotropic or antipsychotic medications. The woman has experienced
“troubling side effects” after reducing the dosage of a drug used to treat bipolar disorder. Symptoms included “an internal feeling of anxiety all day long, the inability to sleep at night, nightmares, the inability to lie down during the day due to a feeling of falling, the inability to sit still or stay still remain, suicidal thoughts”.
According to court documents, the woman and her partner were told the condition was treatable and that symptoms could resolve within months. As a result, doctors rejected her request for assisted death.
The woman found Wiebe and met her via Zoom. “At the end of the first meeting, Dr. Wiebe (the woman) welcomed the arrival of Maid,” the claim states.
Wiebe, a clinical professor at the University of British Columbia, has emerged as a staunch advocate for Maid, argue current laws are intended to recognize “basic human rights.”
The British Columbia lawsuit alleges that Wiebe did not consult the woman’s doctors or request the patient’s complete medical records. Instead, Wiebe allegedly viewed only part of the woman’s medical records by email.
In Canada, the euthanasia framework has two “tracks” – one for terminal conditions and another where “natural death is not reasonably foreseeable.” Applicants whose medical condition is a mental illness will not be considered until at least March 2027.
In cases where the applicant suffers from a chronic, irreversible physical condition, federal law requires that a second, independent physician also approve the request. The lawsuit claims this did not happen in the case of the Alberta woman.
Wiebe declined to comment.
In his ruling, BC Supreme Court Justice Simon Coval said the woman appeared to have a mental illness without any physical symptoms. He said he approved the request because there would be “clearly a situation of extremely irreparable harm” if she carried out her plan to die on October 27.
Coval acknowledged that the order “is a serious infringement” on the woman’s personal and medical autonomy.
“I can only imagine the pain she has experienced and I recognize that this order will likely make that worse,” he wrote. But he questioned whether Maid standards were being applied correctly as her condition “may not only be recoverable, but recoverable relatively quickly”.