Catholic Vancouver February 25, 2021
Chilliwack death shows euthanasia system subject to abuse: couple
By Terry O'Neill
Second of three stories.
An Alberta couple who lost a mentally incompetent family member to assisted suicide say they’re alarmed that Ottawa is trying to expand a euthanasia system already subject to abuse.
Gary and Trish Nichols of Edmonton are publicizing the case of Gary’s brother, Alan, who died in 2019 at age 62 in Chilliwack General Hospital through a Medical Assistance in Dying procedure he had requested. The hospital falls under the jurisdiction of the Fraser Health Authority.
Gary Nichols said his brother suffered the effects of a brain injury sustained as a child and was depressed, mentally incompetent, and certainly did not face imminent death.
“My whole problem with [MAiD] is, like, the government opened the door and, of course, people and physicians just make it wider,” he said in an interview. “And there’s nobody holding anybody accountable for not sticking within the guidelines.”
Nichols said his understanding is that his brother simply didn’t want to live anymore. “He wasn’t terminally ill, he wasn’t suffering from any pain,” he said. Yet, authorities would not allow family members to intervene to stop the MAiD process
Fraser Health said in a detailed report to the Nichols family, dated Dec. 30, 2019, that the hospital followed all appropriate protocols in assessing Alan’s condition and agreeing to assist in his death.
In response to the family’s question about whether Alan’s death was imminent, the FHA wrote, “Physicians and Nurse Practitioners have the necessary expertise to evaluate each person’s unique circumstance and can effectively judge when a person is on a trajectory toward death.”
The existing law says adults can ask for an assisted suicide when they have “a grievous and irremediable medical condition.” Despite what many Canadians believe the law says, it does not actually stipulate that death must be imminent, only foreseeable.
This elasticity has long concerned Dr. Williard Johnston, the B.C. head of the Euthanasia Prevention Coalition. Johnston described a case of a North Vancouver man, living with advanced multiple sclerosis, who was told by a doctor how simple it would be for him to qualify for MAiD under the foreseeability clause.
The man told Johnston that the doctor in question pointed out that he spent most of his time in bed, which meant that he would inevitably develop bedsores, which in turn would become infected, then turn septic and ultimately kill him. “So bedsores amounted to a terminal illness, in terms of the intent of the legislation,” Johnston observed.
It’s shocking, he said, but exactly what he and other anti-euthanasia proponents have long been predicting. And with proposed changes under Bill C-7, assisted suicide will become “death on demand for anybody who is unsatisfied with their life.”
Trish Nichols agreed with the statement that, regardless of the law, doctors at Chilliwack General essentially committed murder when they carried out MAiD on her brother-in-law. “I do, too” she said.
If you’d like let Terry O’Neill know about a negative or wrongful experience with assisted suicide/MAiD, email him at [email protected].