Medical assistance in dying (MAID), and how it relates to ME/CFS

The Royal College of Physicians, Today June 9th 2025:






RCP Tweets:
'We have raised concerns about existing deficiencies in the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill.
We believe the bill in its current form lacks adequate protections for patients and professionals.

Full statement: https://ow.ly/EOhP50W692q .

‘While the RCP neither supports or opposes a change in the law, the bill in its current form has concerning deficiencies...parliament must address these issues or risk failing to protect vulnerable patients and uphold the integrity of clinical practice.’
Dr @j59dd , our clinical vice president.'

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Archived version:

"Over the years, she had collected varied and sometimes competing diagnoses: fibromyalgia, chronic fatigue syndrome, chronic pain, chronic migraine. Also bipolar disorder, borderline personality disorder, post-traumatic stress disorder, depression, anxiety, substance-use disorder (marijuana)."
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And then there were the Track 2 patients whose suffering couldn’t be pinned down at all. They had chronic aches, or mysterious fevers, or fatigue that no amount of sleep would resolve. They had “functional disorders” that couldn’t be picked up on any blood test or body scan, that had no obvious medical explanation — disorders that are poorly understood within medicine, and disputed within medicine, and that some clinicians believe have a significant psychological component. Fibromyalgia, chronic fatigue, irritable-bowel syndrome, some kinds of chronic headaches, many types of chronic pain. Whether a clinician found such a patient eligible depended, in part, on how comfortable he or she was with ambiguity. The law itself did not require diagnostic certainty.
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January 29, 2026

Man suffering from 'profound loneliness' receives MAiD

"In another case of euthanasia via Canada's Medical Assistance in Dying (MAiD) program, a man in his 60s with a disability was euthanized despite his main source of suffering being loneliness.

Referred to as Mr. B in a 2025 report by the Ontario MAiD Death Review Committee (OMDRC), he was living with cerebral palsy, a condition that affects an individual's ability to move, and is usually caused by damage to the developing brain before birth.

This meant Mr. B was wheelchair-bound — but could independently control his wheelchair, transfer himself, and use the bathroom independently.

He lived in a long-term care facility (LTCF) due to his advanced care needs and had been living there for many years.

His life, partly due to his disability, was characterized by much isolation."

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Moved posts from News from Canada

Canada set to surpass 100,000 assisted suicides- more than the country's WW11 death toll

"Canada is set to pass a grim milestone in its medically-assisted suicide program with a total of 100,000 citizens projected to be euthanized by the government before its 10th anniversary on June 17.

The Great White North’s MAID (Medical Assistance in Dying) program will soon cross the sickly six-figure threshold, according to The National Post.

Ottawa’s most recent data shows 15,767 Canadians were euthanized by the state in 2024 — 5.1% of all deaths in the nation that year".

Canada killed a woman against her will because her husband had "caregiver burnout". Canada now offering SAME-day assisted suicide.
 
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Peter T said:
I know nothing about this case, but taking this sentence at face value this is surely not ‘assisted dying’, rather at best euthanasia and at worst state sanctioned murder.
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This seems to be an official government report, which includes a section describing the case:

MDRC Report 2024 – 4: Complex Same Day / Next Day Provisions

Snippets [Edit: from pages 21-22]:
Mrs. B reportedly expressed her desire for MAiD to her family. In response, and on the same day, her spouse contacted a referral service on her behalf. The following day, a MAiD practitioner assessed her for MAiD eligibility. She reportedly told the MAiD assessor that she wanted to withdraw her request, citing personal and religious values and beliefs.
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The next morning, Mrs. B presented to the emergency department (ED) of her local hospital. Her spouse was noted to be experiencing caregiver burnout. Mrs. B was assessed to be in stable condition, and thereby discharged home with continued palliative care.
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On the same day, Mrs. B’s spouse contacted the provincial MAiD coordination service requesting an urgent assessment. A different MAiD assessor from the previous day completed a primary assessment and determined Mrs. B to be eligible for MAiD. The former MAiD practitioner was contacted.

This MAiD practitioner expressed concerns regarding the necessity for ‘urgency’ and shared belief for the need for more comprehensive evaluation, the seemingly drastic change in perspective of end-of-life goals, and the possibility of coercion or undue influence (i.e., due to caregiver burnout).

The initial MAiD practitioner requested an opportunity to visit with Mrs. B the following day to re-assess; however, this opportunity was declined by the MAiD provider due to their clinical opinion that the clinical circumstances necessitated an urgent provision. An additional MAiD practitioner was arranged by the MAiD coordination service to complete a virtual assessment. Mrs. B was found eligible for MAiD by this third assessor. The provision of MAiD was completed later that evening.
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V.R.T. said:
I've heard a lot of dodgy stories about the situation with MAID in Canada. People being offered it inappropriately to save the state money and stuff.
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Yeah the UN even made a statement of concern on it:
The Committee is extremely concerned about the 2021 amendments to the State
Party’s Criminal Code made through Bill C-7, which expanded the eligibility criteria for obtaining medical assistance in dying, by removing the “reasonably foreseeable death”
criterion and thus creating what is referred to as “Track 2” for requests for medical assistance in dying. The Committee notes that similar concerns about Track 2 have been addressed directly to the State Party by the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women, the Special Rapporteur on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and during the universal periodic review. The Committee further notes that the Special Rapporteur on the rights of persons with disabilities, the Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights and the Independent Expert on the enjoyment of all human rights by older persons have stated that disability is not a reason to endorse medical assistance in dying. The Committee

also notes with concern:

(a) That the federal Government did not challenge the decision by the Supreme Court of Québec in the Truchon and Gladu v. Canada case, which fundamentally changed the whole premise of medical assistance in dying – from one restricted to cases in which natural death is reasonably foreseeable to one that establishes the possibility of medically assisted dying for persons with disabilities – on the basis of negative, ableist perceptions of the quality and value of the life of persons with disabilities, including the view that “suffering” is intrinsic to disability, without recognition that inequality and discrimination cause and compound “suffering” for persons with disabilities;


(b) That the concept of “choice” creates a false dichotomy, setting up the premise that if persons with disabilities are suffering, it is valid for the State Party to enable their death without providing safeguards that guarantee the provision of support, and on the basis of ableist assumptions that de-emphasize the myriad of support options that could allow persons with disabilities to live dignified lives, and about the systemic failure of the State Party to address the social determinants of health and well-being with regard to poverty alleviation, access to healthcare, accessible housing, prevention of homelessness, prevention of gender-based violence, and the provision of community-based mental health support and employment support;

(c) That evidence from the Office of the Chief Coroner for Ontario and data compiled by the federal Government indicate that Track 2 medical assistance in dying is disproportionately accessed by women with disabilities and persons with disabilities in marginalized situations, and that there is an upward trajectory in the number of persons with disabilities killed through Track 2;

(d) About the expansion of Track 2 in 2027 to persons whose “sole underlying medical condition is a mental illness” (through Bill C-62) and the proposed expansion of medical assistance in dying to include mature minors and advance requests for such assistance;

(e) About the inadequacy of the process of consultation with Indigenous Peoples, including non-status and off-reserve Indigenous persons with disabilities, in relation to medical assistance in dying;

(f) About the absence of a federal independent oversight mechanism to monitor, regulate and handle complaints in relation to medical assistance in dying.

20. To ensure the right to life for persons with disabilities, the Committee recommends that the State Party, in close consultation with and with the active involvement of persons with disabilities, through their representative organizations:

(a) Repeal the Track 2 medical assistance in dying provision, including the provision to, in 2027, Track 2 for persons whose “sole underlying medical condition is a mental illness”;

(b) Not support proposals for the expansion of medical assistance in dying to include mature minors and advance requests;

(c) Significantly invest in and implement, at the federal, provincial and territorial levels, comprehensive measures to ensure that the systemic failures in relation to the social determinants of health and well-being are addressed, with regard to poverty alleviation, access to healthcare, accessible housing, prevention of homelessness, prevention of gender-based violence, and the provision of community-based mental health support, care services at home and personal assistance, and employment support;

(d) Strengthen distinctions-based, community-led consultation processes with Indigenous Peoples, including non-status and off-reserve Indigenous persons with disabilities, respecting the principle of self-determination;

(e) Establish and provide resources for a federal independent oversight mechanism to monitor, regulate and handle complaints in relation to medical assistance in dying.
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Here’s the UN Report https://docstore.ohchr.org/SelfServ...0w3h9dlR6BlM2sDo+b2r9ZokwJWGmtZoeeUAVwrINrw== (April 2025)
 
V.R.T. said:
I've heard a lot of dodgy stories about the situation with MAID in Canada. People being offered it inappropriately to save the state money and stuff.
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I wonder if such as the Canadian system needs to have a power to address financial/benefit needs and provide practical support and/or respite to ensure any social issues are not the driving force for the request.

As I mentioned above the Canadian system is in danger of sliding into euthanasia.
 
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