Despite Bill 11’s expanded eligibility criteria for medical assistance in dying, a coroner worries about seniors who want to quit but don’t meet the criteria.
For Kathleen Gélinas, the observation is striking: some of them take their own lives by force for lack of support.
“I have noticed for some time that for some time older people who take their own lives have made a request for medical euthanasia in the days or weeks beforehand, which was denied because they did not meet the criteria. These people express that they have given up, that they no longer want to live and are being abandoned. We need to hear that call as an 911 call and accompany them,” the coroner said.
Ms Gélinas believes that better support for people who are denied medical care when dying would avoid tragedy in many families: “In reports that I have submitted, I recommend better explaining to seniors why they are not entitled to medical care have help in dying. And these people must be referred to the geriatric psychiatric service after a rejection from the outset.