Case reference: MAID-QC-2024-AP22 · Saint-Jérôme, Quebec · Died by MAID · Confirmed by an official or institutional source
Who he was
Normand Meunier was a truck driver from Quebec’s Laurentians region, a husband to Sylvie Brosseau, and in his final years a quadriplegic man who depended heavily on others for his care. The coroner’s report describes his paralysis as the result of surgery for cervical spinal stenosis, complicated by an epidural hematoma. He had lost sensation in much of his body, which left him highly vulnerable to pressure sores.
He knew what he needed to stay safe, and he asked for it.
What happened
Between December 2023 and February 2024, Meunier was admitted three times to Hôpital de Saint-Jérôme. During his stay from 18 to 29 January 2024, he spent about 96 hours on a stretcher in the emergency department without a therapeutic surface, because the hospital was over capacity. He had warned staff that he needed an alternating pressure mattress. CBC reported that 145 such mattresses were available on request from the regional health authority, but the authority’s director of nursing said adapted mattresses and beds were not available in emergency rooms.
Photo: Ivanoh Demers/CBC (source)
He developed a severe pressure sore that later exposed muscle and bone. By early February, surgeons had to do urgent debridement. Told there was no prospect of healing, Meunier requested MAID on 4 March 2024 and went home the next day. He spoke to Radio-Canada the day before he died, saying he preferred to end his physical and psychological suffering. On 29 March 2024, he received MAID at home, surrounded by his loved ones.
Why they were pushed toward MAID
An official inquiry has confirmed what led Meunier to MAID. In November 2025, coroner Dave Kimpton found that his pressure wounds “appeared or worsened in hospital.” He cited incomplete risk assessment, insufficient documentation, irregular repositioning, delays in getting essential equipment and late involvement of wound-care experts. A therapeutic mattress was ordered without being marked urgent and arrived on the day he was discharged.
The coroner did not find that anyone suggested MAID to Meunier or pressured him into it. His request followed a prognosis that the coroner traced to failures in his care. He died by MAID because a hospital did not prevent a wound it should have prevented.
What their family says
His widow, Sylvie Brosseau, told the inquiry that she asked staff again and again for a proper mattress and did not get one. According to La Presse, she said her requests were not listened to, that care started from scratch on every floor with no coordination and no protocol, and that proper care for patients like her husband is a question of life or death.
In November 2025, her lawyer, Patrick Martin-Ménard, announced she would sue the CISSS des Laurentides. In his words, translated from French: “Mr. Meunier spent 96 hours on a hard surface in the emergency room, without access to a therapeutic surface, without adequate repositioning and without any assessment by hospital staff of his risk of pressure sores.” The spinal cord injury group Moelle épinière et motricité Québec is considering a class action against Santé Québec and the health ministry.
What this case shows
Normand Meunier was not driven to MAID by his disability. He was driven to it by an injury the health system gave him and should have prevented. His case, confirmed by a coroner, shows how neglect of disabled patients can end in MAID, and why MAID can never stand in for safe, basic care.
Sources
- Bureau du coroner du Québec: Rapport d’enquête publique : Normand Meunier (2024-EP00293-9)
- Bureau du coroner du Québec: Détail de l’enquête publique
- CBC News: Quebec coroner orders public inquiry into assisted death of quadriplegic man
- L’actualité: Décès après avoir développé des plaies de lit : le coroner fait ses recommandations
- La Presse: Décès suite à des plaies de lit | La veuve d’un homme poursuit le CISSS des Laurentides
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