Medical Assistance in Dying committee  I have in fact given medical assistance in dying to several patients with dementia who clearly retained their capacity until the last minute, but who would definitely have liked to spend a little more time with their family. If they had been able to make an advance request, the c

Medical Assistance in Dying committee  Absolutely.

Medical Assistance in Dying committee  For your first question, about refusing to give medical assistance in dying, I'll just repeat that it's against the code of ethics to refuse to administer medical assistance in dying to a patient who has requested it, and who, in the assessment by practitioners, meets the eligibi

Medical Assistance in Dying committee  At the moment, we do not provide medical assistance in dying to all types of patients. And you can be sure that not all doctors or nurse practitioners in other provinces will administer medical assistance in dying when there have been advance requests. Situations like this are n

Medical Assistance in Dying committee  Yes, certainly. If that patient has completed an advance request for medical assistance in dying to avoid being in the kind of situation you described, then that patient is certainly suffering. If the conditions have been specified and the patient has reached that point, then we

Medical Assistance in Dying committee  Advance medical directives in Quebec already cover cases like that. However, the mechanism is completely different, because the person is asking not to receive treatment. For an advance request for medical assistance in dying, they are instead asking to receive this assistance o

Medical Assistance in Dying committee  Are you asking about a case in which the patient has made an advance request for medical assistance in dying and where we did not provide it?

Medical Assistance in Dying committee  In a case like that, it would be more than a matter of aggressive therapy. As I mentioned earlier in discussing measures, measures are not necessarily safeguards. The advance request for medical assistance in dying is binding and cannot be challenged. If we were not to comply, th

Medical Assistance in Dying committee  It's crucial.

Medical Assistance in Dying committee  When I met the patient, she was certainly fully capable of describing what she wanted to experience and what she did not. She was able to explain it clearly. If the patient had been able to complete an advance request, we would have entered these details. The name of the proxy i

Medical Assistance in Dying committee  The third party is part of the procedure and is aware of the criteria specified by the patient for triggering the procedure. However, it is up to the clinicians, meaning the two doctors, because we have continued with the same approach, to establish whether the criteria have been

Medical Assistance in Dying committee  I don't think it's virtually impossible for people who are capable, who are aware of the situation in which they are making the decision, and who know the reasons why they are making that decision. They need to specify the criteria and the clinical circumstances that will determ

Medical Assistance in Dying committee  I fully agree with Dr. Downie on this. An advance request for medical assistance in dying should only be possible once the patient has had a confirmed diagnosis of neurocognitive disorders or dementia that will definitely be harmful to the patient's capacity as time goes by. So a

Medical Assistance in Dying committee  Advance requests are made essentially because the patients know they are going to lose their ability to express their wishes one day or another because of their illness. And yes, it's for degenerative neurocognitive disorders. However, other diagnoses may be involved. Let's, for

Medical Assistance in Dying committee  Healthy people would not be able to say that they would like to have medical assistance in dying if they were to have a stroke.