Canadian doctors give Nova Scotia woman information about euthanasia as she faces surgery to remove breast cancer

The woman, who asked to remain anonymous, said the that before her first mastectomy, a doctor asked her in a list of pre-operative questions if she was aware of MAiD and its potential relevance to her condition, per the National Post. Fifteen months later, waiting for a second mastectomy, “it happened again,” the woman said. It wasn’t the same doctor but it was the same question about MAiD being “a thing that exists.”

“It was upsetting. Not because I thought they were trying to kill me. I was shocked that it happened. I was like, ‘Again? This happened again?'”

She believes she was asked about euthanasia as she “was literally on [her] way into surgery” because she has a long history of autoimmune and other disorders that could make her eligible for MAiD. Nonetheless, her story highlights how some doctors are increasingly apt to talk about euthanizing their patients before their patients are even thinking about it as a possibility. This practice is either outlawed or frowned upon in most countries with an euthanasia program, the Post reported.

The Nova Scotia woman, whose story was first reported by The Telegraph, has led a happy and productive life and isn’t looking for sympathy. “I’m nobody’s teachable moment.” Although she wasn’t specifically offered MAiD she said the matter-of-fact way in which such a life and death issue was raised “threw me. It came up in completely inappropriate places and completely inappropriate times,” she said.

“I am a very lucky woman. I have a large and supportive family. I have all the love,” she said. “But I felt small and lonely and alone in that hallway before going into surgery.”

“There are people who have lists of conditions like mine who don’t have a big, happy loving family, or financial or emotional support, and if those words are said to them when they’re lonely and alone … If my life were like that, I may not have had the strength or courage to either pretend that that question didn’t exist or just say, ‘No, I don’t want to talk about it. Let’s move on.'”

Dr. Gus Grant, registrar and chief executive officer of the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Nova Scotia, told the Post that it was “clearly inappropriate and insensitive” for a doctor to start discussing euthanasia just as a patient is about to be operated on. “I can understand why the patient was upset,” Grant said.

However, the doctor wanted to underline the “difference between raising the topic of discussing awareness about MAiD and possible eligibility, from offering MAID. They are wildly different things that need to be disambiguated.”

“The issue is the sensitivity or appropriateness of raising the question of an awareness of MAiD at the time, and I can certainly understand the patient being put off by that.”

Canadian cancer patient Allison Ducluzeau revealed in November 2023 how doctors had also told her that she was eligible for MAiD before being offered any significant medical assistance to treat her abdominal cancer. Facing a long waiting list for the operation in BC, she opted to go to Ohio for a live-saving operation.

An investigation into private online posts revealed that Canadian doctors are increasingly feeling uneasy or even guilty about their participation in the MAiD program.

In March, Canada opted to extend the eligibility of its euthanasia program to the mentally ill, a category that could also include drug addicts and alcoholics. Some have argued that the program is wading into the realm of eugenics.

Health Minister Mark Holland announced that the proposed program expansion will proceed in 2027. "On February 29, 2024, legislation to extend the temporary exclusion of eligibility to receive MAiD in circumstances where a person's sole underlying medical condition is a mental illness received royal assent and immediately came into effect. The eligibility date for persons suffering solely from a mental illness is now March 17, 2027," the Canadian government states.