Providing MAID to man on day pass from B.C. psychiatric ward was 'unlawful,' family alleges
CTV
A 52-year-old man who was provided with a medically assisted death while out on a day pass from a B.C. psychiatric hospital should never have been approved for the life-ending procedure, his family alleges in a recently filed wrongful death lawsuit.
A 52-year-old man who was provided with a medically assisted death while out on a day pass from a B.C. psychiatric hospital should never have been approved for the life-ending procedure, his family alleges in a recently filed wrongful death lawsuit.
The man, a father of three, is identified as J.M.M. in the notice of civil claim, which says he had diagnosed mental illnesses as well as chronic back pain when he was provided with MAID in 2022.
The family, whose identities are also anonymized, claim they obtained a court order under the province's Mental Health Act that saw J.M.M. committed to the psychiatric ward at a Vancouver hospital prior to his death.
"While receiving treatment at St. Paul's Hospital for his incapacitating mental illness, J.M.M. left the hospital on a day pass, visited a clinic in the afternoon, and died through the improper administration of MAID," the claim alleges.
"His family only learned about his death afterward."
The defendants named in the lawsuit, which was filed Dec. 13, include the attorney general of Canada, B.C.'s minister of health, Vancouver Coastal Health Authority, and Providence Health Care Society, which operates St. Paul's Hospital. The ministry and health authorities declined to comment on allegations, citing the litigation as well as well as patient privacy.
Also named is Dr. Ellen Wiebe – a prominent MAID provider and proponent – and her clinic, Willow Reproductive Health Centre. Wiebe declined to comment when contacted by CTV News.
