Ottawa proposes delaying MAID expansion for patients with mental illness until 2027
Ottawa proposes delaying MAID expansion for patients with mental illness until 2027
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I can't help but think that every case of mental health that has ever hit my radar could have done with more help provided much sooner.
I'm all for starting things right, but this feels like a "get this going and perfect it later" topic.
Which mental illness would benefit from MAID? Is there a concept of terminal mental illness in a way the patient would need palliative care or suffer for the rest of their life?
I could see it for very severe and advanced cases of dementia/Alzheimer's where they have a living will requesting it. But I'd be wary of expanding availability much beyond that. Informed consent is really challenging with mental illness in general, but especially so for something as irriversable as MAID
. Informed consent is really challenging with mental illness in general,but especially so for something as irriversable as MAID
I assume that is the main reason for the delay.
If you're going to do this, you have to get it right.
Alzheimer's and dementia aren't really mental illnesses. They're neurological diseases but not really a mental illness.
Are they including those in their definition of mental illness?
Which mental illness would benefit from MAID? Is there a concept of terminal mental illness in a way the patient would ... suffer for the rest of their life?
Yes, quite a few, except they just get lumped into suicide cases because they could never find a treatment that helped.
It's easy to treat "the blues", seasonal depression, and depression caused by an event.
It's not nearly as easy to treat major depression, bipolar disorder, major anxiety disorders, and a whole host of other mental illnesses that can cause prolonged suffering spanning decades without relief.
I think its cruel to not offer MAID in these circumstances.
Many of these people will decide to take their own lives with or without the government's support.
And in those cases, the results are far worse, and considerably more traumatic, for the family of those people.
This is the best summary I could come up with:
The Liberal government has tabled legislation to delay expansion of medical assistance in death (MAID) eligibility for individuals with mental illness for three years.
Earlier this week, most members on a special committee of MPs and senators who examined the country’s readiness in this area indicated that Canada was not prepared to proceed.
Health ministers from British Columbia, Ontario, Alberta, New Brunswick, Saskatchewan, Prince Edward Island, Nova Scotia, Nunavut, the Northwest Territories and Yukon said in the letter that expanding eligibility for MAID requires co-ordination between the levels of government to “ensure a consistent and safe approach across the country that includes appropriate safeguards.”
The letter also said that jurisdictions, health authorities, regulators and practitioners of medically assisted death need sufficient time to implement those safeguards and to address capacity concerns.
“We stand with the individuals who are most grievously impacted by today’s announcement – those few but significant people across the country who live with treatment-resistant mental disorders who have been patiently waiting since 2021 for this change in Canada’s MAID law,” Ms. Long said in a statement.
“Dying With Dignity Canada is disheartened and shares the frustration of the continued exclusion, stigmatization and discrimination based on diagnosis – a clear breach of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms.”
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How many mental illnesses are linked to the cost of living? It causes me daily depression. There is a dark part of my mind that wonders if we'd rather just have people die than make life more affordable.
Given MAID wouldn't be available for a typical case of depression, I'm not sure what your point is other than to ride a hobby horse while diminishing the suffering of people with extreme mental illness.