The federal government is currently seeking input on the issue of advanced MAID requests.
Can you access MAID if you have dementia?
by Jennifer Thuncher
December 20, 2024
Content warning: This story deals with death and dying in plain language, including the process used in assisted death.
Medical Assistance in Dying (MAID) became legal in Canada in 2016 and underwent legislative review and changes again in early 2021.
While many in B.C. are familiar with it, others may not be, at least until they or a relative considers it.
What is it
MAID is when a doctor or nurse practitioner provides medication that causes the death of the person who has requested it or when they give the patient the medication that they can self-administer to cause death.
There are several criteria to be able to qualify for assisted death in B.C. and Canada, including having a grievous and irremediable condition. This means, among other things, that the person is in an advanced state of decline that cannot be reversed.
Also, the condition the person suffers from can not be relieved in ways that the person considers acceptable.
Further, right before MAID is provided, the practitioner must give the person an opportunity to withdraw their request and ensure that they are still able to express consent.
A person requesting MAID falls into one of two so-called tracks.
According to Health Canada, Track 1 applies to those whose natural death is reasonably foreseeable. Track 2 is for folks whose natural death is not reasonably foreseeable.
In simple terms, there are more obstacles for those who are in Track 2.
According to recently released federal government data, in 2023, 95.9% of MAID cases were people whose death was reasonably foreseeable (Track 1), and 4.1% were individuals in Track 2.
Steps to access MAID
Alex Muir, chair of the Metro Vancouver chapter of the charity Dying With Dignity Canada, notes that in B.C., each of the five regional authorities, plus the First Nations Health Authority, have MAID teams set up within them.
“They are really good at helping people navigate the system and navigate through the whole procedure and how it happens,” he said.
The ill person who wants assisted death has to fill out a request form, which has to be witnessed by someone. The form then goes to the regional health authority.
For folks in the Sea to Sky Corridor, that would be Vancouver Coastal Health Authority (VCH)
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The Question, are you going to HEAVEN or Burn for eternity in HELL
Thats not what I heard. I heard that people are drowning before they die with maid. Wow how sick is it that there is no problem to get maid. But a real problem to get a real doctor.