Medical assistance in dying: Quebec says it's ready to start accepting advanced requests next week

Quebec's health department says it will be ready to meet the expected demand for advanced applications for medical assistance in dying when it begins accepting those requests next week.

Quebec's health department says it will be ready to meet the expected demand for advanced applications for medical assistance in dying when it begins accepting those requests next week.

Dr. Stéphane Bergeron, an associate deputy minister in the department, told reporters in a briefing on Thursday that it will take time for the first requests to be approved, which will give the health system further room to prepare.

"It's not something we do in a few minutes during one consultation or appointment," he said. "It's something we have to take our time with, that will certainly require several meetings between the (health professionals) and the patient." 

On Oct. 30 Quebec will become the first province to allow a person with a serious and incurable illness to request that a medically assisted death be administered months or even years in the future — when their condition leaves them unable to consent to the procedure.

Quebec chose to expand its MAID program to help people with illnesses such as Alzheimer's — without waiting for Ottawa to update the Criminal Code. Instead, the province asked the Crown prosecutor's office not to charge doctors who choose to participate in the advanced MAID program as long they comply with the provincial act.

The Criminal Code says a health-care worker who administers a medically-assisted death must ensure that the person gives "express consent" immediately before they receive MAID. They must also offer an opportunity to withdraw the request. There are exceptions, but for the consent requirement to be waived under Canadian law, a person seeking MAID must fulfil several criteria, including that they entered an arrangement specifying the day on which they wanted to die.

Bergeron says that people who seek approval for advanced MAID applications must fulfil several obligations, including that they describe in detail the symptoms that health-care workers will need to witness before administering the procedure. They must also have a serious and incurable condition that causes them "constant and unbearable physical or psychological suffering."