Report: Assisted suicide in Canada poses higher death risk for vulnerable groups
Caroline MolloyThe legalization of medical assistance in dying (MAID) in Canada has led to disproportionately high rates of premature deaths among vulnerable groups, according to a recent Cardus Health report.
Cardus Health, an organization that aims to foster a social system that supports natural death and helps institutions care for patients approaching the end of life, conducted a report to evaluate assisted suicide in Canada.
The report, “In Contrast to Carter: Assisted Dying’s Impact on Canadians with Disabilities,” examines if the expectations of MAID laid out in the British Columbia Supreme Court case, Carter v. Canada, are being met.
In 2012, the court concluded in Carter v. Canada that an appropriately safeguarded physician-assisted dying program could be adopted in Canada that would not create a “heightened risk” or an “inordinate” impact on vulnerable groups, and there would not be a disproportionate impact on their right to life.
The safeguards stated that physician-assisted suicide would primarily be for those terminally ill, physicians would carefully examine MAID requests for people with disabilities or depression, and those who felt like a burden, were socially isolated, or suffered from neurological illnesses would be protected through a scrupulous review process.
The Cardus report concluded that Canada has not upheld these expectations and the “safeguards have failed to materialize,” based on data from Health Canada; the independent monitoring authority of Quebec for end-of-life; the Office of the Chief Coroner of Ontario; and peer-reviewed medical studies and public reports.
In 2021, Canada expanded MAID requests to non-terminally-ill and disabled patients, which led to 223 assisted suicide deaths for non-terminally-ill persons in 2021, 463 in 2022, and 622 in 2023.
The report highlighted that from 2019 to 2023, at least 42% of all MAID deaths were people who required disability services. This included more than 1,017 people who required disability services but did not receive them.
The research found that assisted suicide deaths of those who “required disability services and received them” increased each year. In 2019, 2,223 people in this category died by assisted suicide. The number rose to 3,219 in 2020, 4,278 in 2021, 4,819 in 2022, and 5,181 in 2023.
The deaths of those who “required disability services and did not receive them” also experienced substantial increases. In 2019, 87 people in this group died by assisted suicide in Canada. By 2023, the number had risen to 432.
The report noted: “Those who died from MAID were more likely to have been living with a disability than those who did not die from MAID, even though both groups had similar medical conditions and experienced diminished capability.”
