Case reference: MAID-NS-2024-N7WD · Nova Scotia · MAID raised by others; not requested · Recorded by the register as a MAID victim
Who she is
She is a 51-year-old Nova Scotia woman who worked, raised children and volunteered. She asked for anonymity because she lives in a small area with few doctors. She has lived with fibromyalgia, lupus and other conditions since childhood. “Deep down, I’m not even sure I’ve ever had a day in my life without pain,” she said.
What happened
After she found a lump in her breast over the 2022 Labour Day weekend, everything moved quickly: mammogram, biopsy, surgery. Before her mastectomy, an unfamiliar doctor ran through pre-operative questions: medical history, medications, allergies, and whether she was aware of medical assistance in dying. Fifteen months later, before a second mastectomy, “it happened again,” she said. “Different doctor, same inquiry.” She told the National Post: “In the list of questions about your life and your past and how are you treating these things was, ‘Hey, (MAID) is a thing that exists.’”
Why they were pushed toward MAID
She believes MAID was raised “I was literally on my way into surgery” because of her long history of autoimmune and other disorders, which could make her eligible. “I felt small and lonely and alone in that hallway before going into surgery,” she said. Dr. Gus Grant, registrar of the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Nova Scotia, said it was “clearly inappropriate and insensitive” for a doctor to raise MAID as a person is being rolled into a surgical suite.
In her own words
“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.’” And: “I’m nobody’s teachable moment.”
What this case shows
Twice, on the way into cancer surgery, doctors put MAID in front of a disabled woman who had not asked about it. Her cancer has not spread or returned. Her case shows how MAID is being raised by default with people whose disabilities make them eligible.
Leave a Reply