{"id":72475,"date":"2016-03-15T23:46:01","date_gmt":"2016-03-16T03:46:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/?p=72475"},"modified":"2016-03-15T23:46:01","modified_gmt":"2016-03-16T03:46:01","slug":"patient-no-fear-dying-manitoba-court-grants-wish-doctors-aid-death","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/2016\/03\/15\/patient-no-fear-dying-manitoba-court-grants-wish-doctors-aid-death\/","title":{"rendered":"Patient has no fear of dying: Manitoba court grants wish for doctor\u2019s aid in death"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"(ShutterStock<\/a>
(ShutterStock image)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

WINNIPEG \u2013 Manitoba has become the latest province to have a court grant a patient the right to die with the help of a doctor.<\/p>\n

Chief Justice Glenn Joyal made the ruling after a hearing Tuesday during which the patient\u2019s application was unopposed. Joyal also granted a request not to identify the patient or any health-care professionals involved.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe applicant has satisfied the court that the applicant is competent to request physician-assisted death,\u201d Joyal said. \u201cThe applicant clearly consents to the termination of life… and has a grievous, irremediable medical condition that causes the applicant enduring suffering that is intolerable.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Supreme Court last year struck down a law that prohibited medical aid in dying. In January, it gave the federal government more time to craft new legislation, but said anyone who wants an assisted death sooner can apply to a judge.<\/p>\n

Neither the patient nor any of the patient\u2019s family was in court. The patient issued a written statement following the ruling indicating peace with the decision to die.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhile it has been sad to say goodbye and to plan to leave my family, I am not feeling anxious, depressed or in fear of death,\u201d the patient said. \u201cI wish to spend the remaining days of my life in the privacy and company of my family.\u201d<\/p>\n

The patient\u2019s spouse said in the same statement that the family \u201cdeeply appreciate that the decision… will also help to relieve our emotional burden, having watched my spouse suffer enormous pain and watched as their quality of life has rapidly deteriorated.\u201d<\/p>\n

Lawyer John Myers, who represented the patient, choked up as he told court his client wants to be left in peace to die in the coming days with the help of a doctor. Court heard the patient has been given less than a month to live and is suffering.<\/p>\n

\u201cAll my client asks for is the privacy to die with dignity in the presence of family,\u201d Myers said.<\/p>\n

He argued that the patient meets the definition of a vulnerable person and should be \u201caccorded a very, very high degree of protection.\u201d The patient\u2019s wish was supported by four doctors, including at least one designated to assist in the death.<\/p>\n

Any of the parties can decide not to go ahead with the death at any time, Myers said.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou are not being pushed to rule on a matter of life or death,\u201d the lawyer told Joyal.<\/p>\n

Allison Fenske with the Public Interest Law Centre \u2013 Legal Aid Manitoba told court the patient qualified for an exemption under the Supreme Court’s ruling and is not clinically depressed.<\/p>\n

The request for an assisted death was \u201cnot borne lightly,\u201d she added.<\/p>\n

The patient\u2019s application argued for a publication ban on identity \u2013 including gender, age and diagnosis \u2013 for fear of harassment from those opposed to physician-assisted death. The application also stated that doctors willing to help the patient die were reluctant to do so if their identities weren\u2019t protected.<\/p>\n

The patient\u2019s application noted that an Alberta court already allowed a physician-assisted death and granted a publication ban. Last week, the Ontario court ordered the identity of an 80-year-old man seeking help in dying, his family and any doctors involved be kept secret.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

WINNIPEG \u2013 Manitoba has become the latest province to have a court grant a patient the right to die with …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":33,"featured_media":24504,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[37,16],"tags":[9636],"class_list":["post-72475","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-health","category-news","tag-cp","mauthors-chinta-puxley","mauthors-the-canadian-press"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/72475","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/33"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=72475"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/72475\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/24504"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=72475"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=72475"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=72475"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}