Health
Euthanasia Prevention Coalition hopes to derail plan to offer euthanasia for people with mental illnesses
From LifeSiteNews
The Euthanasia Prevention Coalition is urging support for a campaign to reverse Canada’s decision allowing assisted suicide for those suffering with mental illness.
The Euthanasia Prevention Coalition needs your help to implement a successful campaign to reverse the decision to permit euthanasia for mental illness in Canada.
EPC has launched a petition to the justice minister and the justice critics demanding that the Canadian government reverse its decision to permit “MAiD” (Medical Assistance in Dying) for mental illness alone and demanding that Canadians with mental illness not be abandoned to death by euthanasia.
EPC has printed postcards (picture below) that can be ordered for free by calling: 1-877-439-3348 or emailing: [email protected].
EPC is also planning to release a video on euthanasia for mental illness soon.
Please consider making a donation towards the cost of this campaign here.
Background information
When the Canadian government expanded its euthanasia law (MAiD) in March 2021 (Bill C-7) it did so by removing the terminal illness requirement and permitting Canadians to be poisoned to death if they have an irremediable medical condition.
Bill C-7 also added the option of euthanasia for mental illness alone. Bill C-7 originally provided a two-year moratorium on euthanasia for mental illness to give them time to prepare for this expansion. In 2023 the government extended the moratorium for another year. Unless the government pauses its current plan, euthanasia for mental illness alone will become an option on March 17, 2024.
In February 2023, the Angus Reid Institute published a poll indicating that 31 percent of Canadians supported euthanasia for mental illness alone, with the highest support being in Quebec (36 percent) and the lowest support being in Saskatchewan (21 percent). In September 2023, the Angus Reid Institute conducted another poll which indicated that support for euthanasia for mental illness alone had dropped to 28 percent of Canadians.
Some real life stories
In August 2022, Global News reported the story of a Veterans Affairs employee who advocated euthanasia for a veteran living with PTSD. The article stated:
A Canadian Forces veteran seeking treatment for post-traumatic stress disorder and a traumatic brain injury was shocked when he was unexpectedly and casually offered medical assistance in dying by a Veterans Affairs Canada (VAC) employee, sources tell Global News.
Sources say a VAC service agent brought up medical assistance in dying, or MAID, unprompted in the conversation with the veteran. Global News is not identifying the veteran who was seeking treatment.
Canadians were shocked that a veteran who served the country and was seeking help for PTSD was offered (MAiD) euthanasia. The story was published around the same time as several other stories of people with disabilities who were approved for euthanasia based on poverty, homelessness, or being unable to obtain medical treatment.
The Tyee published in August 2023 the story of Kathrin Mentler (37) who lives with suicidal ideation. Mentler, who said that she has lived with depression, anxiety, and suicidal thoughts for many years, was offered euthanasia at the assessment centre at the Vancouver General Hospital when she was seeking help for suicidal ideation.
According to the article, Mentler went to the Vancouver General Hospital to receive help. The article states that she was told by the counsellor that the mental health system was “completely overwhelmed,” there were no available beds, and the earliest that she could talk with a psychiatrist was in about five months. The counsellor then asked Mentler if she had ever considered medically assisted suicide.
Canadians reacted strongly to the Mentler story as she was experiencing suicidal ideation and offered euthanasia while seeking a “safe place.” It must be noted that euthanasia for mental illness was technically illegal in June 2023 when it was offered as an option to Mentler.
An editorial published by the Globe and Mail on November 4, 2023, quoted Dr. K Sonu Gaind, chief of psychiatry at Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre in Toronto, stating that there is “absolutely no consensus” as to what constitutes an irremediable medical condition when it comes to patients with mental illness. This comment is important because the law requires that a person to be approved for euthanasia, must have an irremediable medical condition.
There have been many articles in the media concerning people with disabilities who asked for or received euthanasia (MAiD) based on poverty, homelessness, or an inability to obtain medical treatment.
Similar to people with disabilities, people with mental health issues are more likely to live in poverty, to be homeless or to struggle to obtain the medical treatment that they need.
The battle to protect people with mental illness has not ended
On December 13 Justice Minister Arif Virani stated that the federal government may “pause its original plan” to permit euthanasia (MAiD) for mental illness.
Members of Parliament will have the opportunity to oppose euthanasia for mental illness when they return to Parliament after the Christmas break.
Members of Parliament need to reject euthanasia for mental illness.
Urge MPs not to abandon people with mental illness to death by MAiD.
Reprinted with permission from the Euthanasia Prevention Coalition.
Alberta
Province says Alberta family doctors will be the best-paid and most patient-focused in the country
Dr. Shelley Duggan, president, Alberta Medical Association
New pay model, better access to family doctors |
Alberta’s government is implementing a new primary care physician compensation model to improve access to family physicians across the province.
Alberta’s government recognizes that family physicians are fundamental to strengthening the health care system. Unfortunately, too many Albertans do not currently have access to regular primary care from a family physician. This is why, last year, the government entered into a memorandum of understanding with the Alberta Medical Association (AMA) and committed to developing a new primary care physician compensation model.
Alberta’s government will now be implementing a new compensation model for family doctors to ensure they continue practising in the province and to attract more doctors to choose Alberta, which will also alleviate pressures in other areas of the health care system.
This new model will make Alberta’s family doctors the strongest-paid and most patient-focused in the country.
“Albertans must be able to access a primary care provider. We’ve been working hard with our partners at the Alberta Medical Association to develop a compensation model that will not only support Alberta’s doctors but also improve Albertans’ access to physicians. Ultimately, our deal will make Alberta an even more attractive place to practise family medicine.”
“We have worked with the Alberta Medical Association to address the challenges that primary care physicians are facing. This model will provide the supports physicians need and improve patient access to the care they need.”
The new model is structured to encourage physicians to grow the number of patients they care for and encourage full-time practice. Incentives include increases for:
- Maintaining high panel numbers (minimum of 500 patients), which will incentivize panel growth and improve access to primary care for patients.
- Providing after-hours care to relieve pressure on emergency departments and urgent care centres.
- Improving technology to encourage using tools that help streamline work and enhance patient care.
- Enhancing team-based care, which will encourage developing integrated teams that may include family physicians, nurse practitioners, registered nurses, dietitians and pharmacists to provide patients with the best care possible.
- Adding efficiencies in clinical operations to simplify processes for both patients and health care providers.
As a market and evidence-based model, it recognizes and pays for the critically important work of physicians, including the number of patients seen and patient complexity, as well as time spent providing direct and indirect care.
“Family medicine is the foundation of our health care system. This model recognizes the extensive training, experience and leadership of primary care physicians, and we hope it will help Alberta to attract and retain more family medicine specialists who provide comprehensive care.”
Additionally, family physicians who are not compensated through the traditional fee-for-service model will now receive higher pay rates under their payment model, known as the alternative relationship plan. This includes those who provide inpatient care in hospitals and rural generalists. Alberta’s government is increasing this to ensure hospital-based family physicians and rural generalists also receive fair, competitive pay that reflects the importance of these roles.
“This new compensation model will make Alberta more attractive for physicians and will make sure more Albertans can have improved access to a primary care provider no matter where they live. It will also help support efforts to strengthen primary care in Alberta as the foundation of the health care system.”
“Family physicians have been anxiously awaiting this announcement about the new compensation model. We anticipate this model will allow many primary care physicians to continue to deliver comprehensive, lifelong care to their patients while keeping their community clinics viable.”
Quick facts
- Enrolment in the primary care physician compensation model will begin in January with full implementation in spring 2025, provided there are at least 500 physicians enrolled.
- The alternative relationship plan rate has not been updated since it was initially calculated in 2002.
- The new compensation model for family doctors is the latest primary health care improvement following actions that include:
- A $42-million investment to recruit more health providers and expand essential services.
- A new rural and remote bursary program for family medicine resident physicians.
- Additional funding of $257 million to stabilize primary care delivery and improve access to family physicians.
- Implementing the Nurse Practitioner Primary Care Program, which expands the role of nurse practitioners by allowing them to practise comprehensive patient care autonomously, either by operating their own practices or working independently within existing primary care settings.
Related information
From LifeSiteNews
By Stephen Kokx
During a free-flowing press conference at Mar-a-Lago Monday, Donald Trump mentioned the sharp rise in autism in recent decades, adding that he has experts ‘looking to find out’ if vaccines may be the cause.
Donald Trump is doubling down on his intention to study a possible link between vaccines and autism in children.
During a free-flowing press conference at Mar-a-Lago Monday, the incoming president said there are “problems” with the massive increase in autism cases in America over the past several decades and that he intends to get to the bottom of it.
“30 years ago, we had, I’ve heard numbers like 1 in 200,000, 1 in 100,000. Now I’m hearing numbers like 1 in 100. So, something’s wrong … and we’re going to find out about it,” he said.
Trump’s remarks come just days after he told MSNBC anchor Kristen Welker that his choice to lead the Heath and Human Services Department, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., will be tasked with investigating the matter.
“Certain vaccines are incredible but maybe some aren’t, and if they aren’t, we have to find out … the drug companies are going to be working with RFK Jr,” he said.
During COVID-19, Dr. Sherri Tenpenny joined a LifeSiteNews panel discussion on the science regarding the COVID shots. She warned that the experimental injections do not even qualify for the term “vaccine.”
“I refuse to call it a vaccine because it doesn’t meet any of the standards by which a vaccine is supposed to work,” she said.
In October 2022, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) unanimously voted 15-0 to add COVID-19 shots to the U.S. childhood, adolescent and adult vaccine schedules.
Dr. Tenpenny warned about the dangers of the current vaccination schedule while attending the world premier of The Great Awakening documentary in June 2023.
“If a child gets all of the vaccines in the entire schedule, they get almost 13,000 micrograms of aluminum, and they get almost 600 micrograms of mercury, plus over 200 different chemicals,” she said. “So that’s why they’ve never been proven to be safe.”
The upcoming 2025 Immunization Schedule approved by the CDC now recommends 36 vaccinations for children from the time they are in their mother’s womb until they are two years old (four doses are given to the pregnant mother while 32 doses are injected in the child from birth to 24 months).
Dr. Simone Gold has called for an investigation into the current vaccination schedule.
“In the 1960’s children received 5 vaccine shots in total. Today, the CDC says that children should receive 72 vaccine shots, a majority of them before the age of 6. The CDC is known for corruptly advancing Big Pharma interests. This schedule needs to be investigated further,” she said on X in September.
The CDC currently advises children to receive 70 doses before they turn 18. This is a massive increase from the 1980s, when they received 24 doses. Many medical freedom activists blame the explosion in shots on the 1986 National Childhood Vaccine Injury Act which gave vaccine makers legal protection from any harm their products inflict on those who receive them.
Doctors and medical freedom activists, including RFK Jr., have long maintained that the massive uptick in autism in recent decades is likely due to the increases in vaccines for children.
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