Medical assistance in dying: The Canadian experience

Abstract

Canada is in the midst of implementing new and rapidly evolving policies on medical assistance in dying (MAID). Following the landmark Canadian Supreme Court Carter v. Canada ruling in February 2015, the former prohibition against physician-assisted death was deemed to violate the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. The Court provided until 2016 for development of national legislation and policies that allowed for physician-assisted dying in cases of “grievous and irremediable” illness and “intolerable suffering”. This session will review shifting public, societal and medical concepts regarding assisted dying and the Canadian experience to date, including evolving local and national policies that have been developed to allow medical assistance in dying in certain circumstances. We will also review work of the Canadian psychiatric association task force on medical assistance in dying (presented by the Task Force Chair), with a focus on challenges and issues relevant to mental health and mental illness.Disclosure of interestThe author has not supplied his declaration of competing interest.