By Daily Mail (U.S.) | Created at 2024-10-30 21:35:30 | Updated at 2024-10-31 19:34:47
22 hours ago
A Canadian judge has blocked the euthanasia bid of a woman who wants to die because she's bipolar.
Justice Simon R. Coval signed a court order that halted the anonymous woman's wishes on Saturday, just a day before she was scheduled to die, claiming she does not qualify, according to a lawsuit obtained by CTV News Vancouver.
The woman, 53, traveled to British Columbia from another Western province to seek Medical Assistance In Dying (MAID), according to the application for an injunction, completed by an unnamed woman's common-law partner.
Court records showed that the woman has been diagnosed with 'rapidly cycling bipolar 2 disorder,' initially looking into MAID because of akathisia - a condition related to dosage changes in antipsychotic and psychotic medication.
After lowering her high dosage of Quetiapine - an antipsychotic that treats bipolar disorder, schizophrenia and depression - the woman started 'describing distressing side-effects,' leading her to 'express her desire to die.'
Because the judge has rejected her request, Dr. Ellen Wiebe, a physician who works with Dying With Dignity - a 'national human-rights charity committed to improving quality of dying,' - or any other doctors are prevented from 'causing the death' of the woman 'by MAID or any other means,' documents showed.
A 53-year-old woman has been denied the chance to die by euthanasia after a Canadian judge blocked her, just a day before her scheduled procedure (stock image)
Because the judge has rejected her request, Dr. Ellen Wiebe (pictured), who signed off on the woman's procedure, or any other doctors are prevented from 'causing the death' of the woman 'by MAID or any other means'
The legal filing was accompanied by a civil claim alleging that Wiebe approved the procedure for a patient who legally does not qualify.
'If the defendants proceed with MAID, the death will constitute a battery of (the patient), wrongful death and potentially a criminal offense,' the claim, reviewed by the outlet, stated.
'It is within the inherent jurisdiction of this honorable court to enjoin allegedly criminal conduct, in this case the termination of a patient's life where it appears that legislative criteria has not been met, and/or the protection of a patient from injury,' it continued.
When the woman's journey first started, she decided to do her own research after her own doctors wouldn't approve her for MAID, according to documents.
'She eventually found Dr. Ellen Wiebe,' the application read.
The woman also had several Zoom meetings with Wiebe, who 'approved' the patients after the first meeting concluded,' the filing stated.
The claim argues that the woman's bipolar diagnosis does not make her eligible for medically assisted death under Track 2 MAID.
Under Track 2 MAID, people with disabilities can be offered assisted suicide when their death is 'not reasonably foreseeable,' according to Inclusion Alberta.
The woman has experienced an array of frightening symptoms, including 'the horrors of an inner sense of terror 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 or remain still, suicidal thoughts,' the injunction application stated.
Her symptoms have led the woman to want to die, though she does not want to do it herself, as she has 'regularly begged (her partner) to end her life.'
Just 11 days before her medically assisted death was scheduled to take place, she and her partner consulted doctors in their province, and were told her condition and symptoms are treatable.
'If the defendants proceed with MAID, the death will constitute a battery of (the patient), wrongful death and, potentially a criminal offense,' the claim stated
'In this case, (the woman) is actively pursuing death, over the objections of the physicians who actively treat her.
'She has come to B.C. because she was able to find someone in B.C. who would approve,' the notice of application said.
It added that the woman's case 'raises serious questions' about whether she 'in fact qualifies for MAID Track 2.'
'Particularly concerning is that akathisia appears to be a cluster of symptoms connected to the changes in usage of drugs used to treat a psychiatric condition. It is treatable but (the woman) has not followed treatment recommendations,' it detailed.
The legal fillings have also questioned the process in which she was approved for MAID.
As of February 2024, the country 'extended the temporary exclusion of eligibility to receive MAID in circumstances where a person's sole underlying medical condition is a mental illness,' according to the Government of Canada.
People with disabilities are set to be eligible in March of 2027.
Patients that can be considered for MAID must 'have a grievous and irremediable medical condition,' or incurable disease that will result in death.
They must also have a condition that 'causes them enduring physical or psychological suffering that is intolerable to them and that cannot be resolved under conditions that they consider acceptable.'
Documents revealed that the woman's partner allegedly asked if her akathisia would qualify as 'irremediable', while also second guessing Wiebe's readiness to sign off on her procedure.
'(The partner) asked Dr. Wiebe if she had ever carried out MAID on someone with akathisia. Dr. Wiebe said that she had not,' the notice of application stated.
'During the same Zoom session, (the partner) also attempted to describe (the woman) as a person with unresolved mental health problems which were probably not considered during the MAID assessment.
'Dr. Wiebe responded by stating that diagnosis does not matter, and that only quality of life mattered, and that this was (the woman’s) right.'
The lawsuit also alleged that Wiebe did not speak directly to the patient's other physicians, did not request medical records, and only reviewed some of her records by email.
Track 2 cases are required to have two doctors' opinions, but according to the suit, that did not happen for this woman.
'[The woman] did not have a doctor who would provide the second assessment. Dr. Wiebe arranged for [another B.C.-based doctor] to be the second assessor,' documents shared, adding that they only ever met on Zoom.
The filling alleged that the woman's doctor also obtained her own witness to see the patient's MAID paperwork get signed.
In all, the lawsuit, 'seeks to address potentially serious failings in the application of the MAID regime,' according to court documents.
None of the allegations have been brought to court. DailyMail.com contacted Wiebe for comment.
