Thank you very much for your question.
A number of activities have taken place. I have highlighted a few that have been carried out since the committee submitted its report in 2024. Since the publication of the federal expert panel’s report, several committees have been established, and a great deal of work has been done to assist and prepare clinicians to deal with requests for MAID from people whose sole medical issue is mental health conditions.
Firstly, a working group commissioned by Health Canada developed the Model Practice Standard for Medical Assistance in Dying. The aim was to help provincial and territorial regulatory bodies update their practice standards for MAID to bring them into line with all new clinical situations. I am thinking in particular of patients whose mental health conditions are their sole medical issue. Obviously, it is up to the regulatory authorities to decide exactly how and when they will incorporate this into their standards. However, I note that several have taken note of the model and have amended their practice standards accordingly.
Subsequently, CAAMEP drafted a number of documents containing clinical recommendations for clinicians, particularly regarding the assessment of the criterion of incurability in the case of a serious and incurable illness. This has extended to the full range of medical conditions from which a person requesting MAID might suffer, as well as to the way in which incurability is assessed in the context of various cases. We often think of cancer, but there are many other diseases from which an individual requesting MAID might suffer.
We therefore need to take a different approach, because the term "incurable" is not necessarily the right word. It is used in clinical practice to describe different types of illnesses. As such, we need to adapt and choose between this legal term and the clinical practice standards used to determine whether the person has undergone all appropriate treatments. That's why CAAMEP has produced this document.
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