Family Accuses Man of Receiving MAID While on Day Pass from Psychiatric Ward

December 19, 2024 TruthUSA

A family from British Columbia is taking legal action against federal and provincial authorities for a wrongful death case. They claim that a mentally ill man received medical assistance in dying (MAID) while on a day pass from a psychiatric ward in Vancouver two years ago, despite lacking eligibility or the capacity to consent to the procedure.

The family asserts that the man’s death was a result of “wrongful actions” by the physicians and institutions involved, as well as “unconstitutional” MAID regulations at the federal and provincial levels. They argue that there is a loophole in the current MAID framework that excludes individuals with solely mental illness temporarily but fails to protect those with both mental and physical illnesses.

The civil claim was filed in B.C. Supreme Court on Dec. 13 by a group of five plaintiffs, whose names remain undisclosed. They state that the 52-year-old man, who suffered from long-term mental illness and chronic back pain, was approved for assisted dying even though his pain did not meet the criteria of being severe or incurable for eligibility.

The defendants in the lawsuit include the Attorney General of Canada, B.C.’s Ministry of Health, the Provincial Health Services Authority, Vancouver Coastal Health Authority, Providence Health Care, which operates St. Paul’s Hospital in Vancouver, and some physicians from the health institutes.

One of the defendants named in the lawsuit is Ellen Wiebe, a Vancouver MAID provider and physician at Willow Reproductive Health Centre.

The family accuses Wiebe, who is also a member of an advisory council at Dying with Dignity Canada, of malpractice for allegedly administering MAID without ensuring that the patient, known as J.M.M. in the legal document, had the necessary capacity to consent.

The patient mentioned in the lawsuit filed on Dec. 13, identified as J.M.M., was a businessman and a father of three. He had a formal diagnosis of mental illness, including bipolar disorder.

In late 2022, his family obtained a court order under the Mental Health Act to admit him to the psychiatric ward of St. Paul’s Hospital in downtown Vancouver, where he began receiving treatment for his mental illness, as stated in the legal document.

Despite being approved for assisted dying, J.M.M. chose to forego that option in favor of rehabilitation. Upon learning of the alleged approval, the family expressed concerns about its legitimacy to the defendants but received no response.

The document does not specify the date when the patient received approval for MAID.

“The plaintiffs were not informed of J.M.M.’s departure from St. Paul’s Hospital until after J.M.M. had undergone MAiD,” the lawsuit notes.

Both Providence Health Care and Vancouver Coastal Health declined to comment, citing patient confidentiality and the ongoing legal proceedings. The office of the Attorney General of Canada did not provide a response.

The Epoch Times also tried to reach out to Wiebe but did not receive a response by the time of publication. According to The Canadian Press, Wiebe has chosen not to comment.

Wiebe testified before a parliamentary committee in May 2022 that she had provided MAID to approximately 430 patients by that time.

Earlier this year, a B.C. Supreme Court judge halted Wiebe from administering MAID to a 52-year-old woman from Alberta who intended to undergo medically assisted death at her Vancouver clinic.

The woman, who had been diagnosed with bipolar disorder and later believed she had akathisia, faced challenges finding doctors in Alberta to approve her request for assisted death. She eventually turned to Wiebe, who approved her during their initial call, as stated in the court document.

The lawsuit was initiated by the common-law partner of the woman, who obtained a temporary injunction to prevent her from undergoing medically assisted death. He argued that she did not meet the criteria for MAID because her condition was primarily mental illness, and her physical illness was not incurable.

The Canadian Press contributed to this report.

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