Close X
Wednesday, November 6, 2024
ADVT 
National

B.C. judge halts the medically assisted death of Alberta woman

Darpan News Desk The Canadian Press, 30 Oct, 2024 03:55 PM
  • B.C. judge halts the medically assisted death of Alberta woman

A British Columbia judge has granted an injunction stopping a woman's medically assisted death, the day before it was scheduled to take place in Vancouver. 

The injunction granted on Saturday to the woman's common-law partner prevents Dr. Ellen Wiebe or any other medical professional from helping end the life of the 53-year-old Alberta woman within 30 days.

The court application by the woman's partner says she was diagnosed with bipolar disorder but later became convinced she had “akathisia" — an inability to stay still — and began exploring medical assistance in dying. 

It says medical professionals told her the condition was "treatable" and "transitory" and could be managed, and she was unable to obtain approval for assistance to die in Alberta.

The application says she then found Wiebe, and that the Vancouver-based doctor breached her statutory duty by approving assistanced in dying for a condition that does not qualify, while failing to review the patient's medical history or conduct a full health assessment.

None of the allegations have been proven in court and Wiebe declined a request for comment by The Canadian Press. 

Justice Simon R. Coval says in his reasons for granting the injunction that it was "clearly a situation of extreme irreparable harm." 

Coval says there is an "arguable case" about whether the assistance in dying criteria were properly applied in the case of the woman, who was granted anonymity by the court.

MORE National ARTICLES

Motorcyclist killed in crash with fire truck in Vancouver

Motorcyclist killed in crash with fire truck in Vancouver
A motorcyclist has died after a collision involving a Vancouver fire truck responding to a call. Vancouver Fire Rescue Services say in a statement that the crash happened this afternoon near Lost Lagoon on the Stanley Park Causeway.

Motorcyclist killed in crash with fire truck in Vancouver

Interior residents get ready to flee as B.C. fire tally soars past 300

Interior residents get ready to flee as B.C. fire tally soars past 300
It's the first time The Inn at Spences Bridge has been empty since April. Dorothy Boragno, who owns the inn with her husband Michael Findlay, said Friday they watched thick smoke across the Thompson River from the out-of-control Shetland Creek wildfire that has already forced others to evacuate.

Interior residents get ready to flee as B.C. fire tally soars past 300

B.C. hospitals pivot to paper amid CrowdStrike global technology outage

B.C. hospitals pivot to paper amid CrowdStrike global technology outage
About 50,000 devices in British Columbia hospitals and health facilities were impacted by the CrowdStrike global technology outage, forcing staff to pivot to using paper to manage everything from lab work to meal orders, the province's health minister said.  Adrian Dix said experts began immediately working on the problem, which has impacted computers running Microsoft Windows, and that the systems are beginning to come back online.

B.C. hospitals pivot to paper amid CrowdStrike global technology outage

Body of missing B.C. teenager found in Surrey, RCMP say death is suspicious

Body of missing B.C. teenager found in Surrey, RCMP say death is suspicious
Homicide investigators are looking into the death of a Langley teenager whose body was found in the Port Kells area of Surrey. Surrey RCMP say the body of 17-year-old Wenyan Michael Zhao was found in the 17900-block of 99A Avenue at 5:30 a.m. Friday.

Body of missing B.C. teenager found in Surrey, RCMP say death is suspicious

Proposed class-action lawsuit filed over Calgary water main break

Proposed class-action lawsuit filed over Calgary water main break
A proposed class-action lawsuit has been filed against the City of Calgary, claiming businesses needlessly lost significant revenue due to a water main break. In a statement of claim filed Wednesday, Angel's Cafe, located near the June 5 water main rupture, alleges the city knew the failed pipe was made of lower-grade materials and should have moved to prevent the failure.

Proposed class-action lawsuit filed over Calgary water main break

Canadian flights, hospitals, border disrupted during global technology outage

Canadian flights, hospitals, border disrupted during global technology outage
Cybersecurity firm CrowdStrike said the glitch felt round the world occurred when it deployed a faulty update to computers running Microsoft Windows — and that the outage was not a security incident or cyberattack. The issue affected Microsoft 365 apps and services, and disruptions continued after the techcompany said it was gradually fixing the problem.

Canadian flights, hospitals, border disrupted during global technology outage