An elderly woman was euthanised “against her will” within hours of her husband claiming she changed her mind after insisting she wanted to live. The Mail has the story.

Canada’s Medical Assistance in Dying laws allow patients to request a painless death if an assessor agrees their terminal condition meets certain requirements.

Patients often wait weeks, but it can happen the same day the application is lodged if judged to be medically urgent by a MAiD provider.

But a report by the Ontario MAiD Death Review Committee raised concerns that safeguards were being eroded that led to questionable deaths.

One case study was that of a woman in her 80s referred to as “Mrs B” who had complications after coronary artery bypass graft surgery.

She went into severe decline and opted for palliative care, and was sent home from hospital with palliative support with her husband caring for her.

But as her condition got worse, her elderly husband struggled to care for her even with the help of visits by nurses.

“Mrs B reportedly expressed her desire for MAiD to her family. In response, and on the same day, her spouse contacted a referral service on her behalf,” the report read.

However, she told the assessor she “wanted to withdraw her request, citing personal and religious values and beliefs” and instead wanted inpatient hospice care.

Her husband took her to hospital the next morning where doctors found she was stable but her husband was “experiencing caregiver burnout”.

Mrs B’s palliative care doctor applied for in-patient hospice care due to her husband’s burnout, but it was quickly denied.

Her husband asked for an urgent second MAiD assessment later that day and a different assessor showed up.

This one judged her to be eligible, but the original one, who was contacted as per protocol, objected.

“This MAiD practitioner expressed concerns regarding the necessity for ‘urgency’ and shared belief for the need for more comprehensive evaluation, the seemingly drastic change in perspective of end-of-life goals, and the possibility of coercion or undue influence (i.e., due to caregiver burnout),” the report explained.

Their request to meet Mrs B the next day was declined by the MAiD provider as “the clinical circumstances necessitated an urgent provision”.

Instead, a third assessor was sent who agreed with the second one, and Mrs B was euthanised that evening.

Read More: Canadian Woman Euthanised “Against Her Will” After Husband was Fed-Up With Caring For Her