Close X
Thursday, November 28, 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

Conservatives' non-confidence motion will make no mention of carbon price

Conservatives' non-confidence motion will make no mention of carbon price
Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre has confirmed he will ask the other opposition parties to bring down the Liberal government next week with a non-confidence motion. A Conservative spokesperson said the motion will simply say the House has no confidence in Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his government.

Conservatives' non-confidence motion will make no mention of carbon price

Account tweaks for young Instagram users 'minimum' expected by B.C., David Eby says

Account tweaks for young Instagram users 'minimum' expected by B.C., David Eby says
Premier David Eby says new account control measures for young Instagram users introduced Tuesday by social media giant Meta are the "minimum" expected of tech companies to keep kids safe online. The parent company of Instagram says users in Canada and elsewhere under 18 will have their accounts set to private by default starting Tuesday, restricting who can send messages, among other parental controls and settings.

Account tweaks for young Instagram users 'minimum' expected by B.C., David Eby says

Targeted stabbing in Langley

Targeted stabbing in Langley
R-C-M-P in Langley are investigating a stabbing that sent a 26-year-old man to hospital with serious but non-life-threatening injuries. Mounties say officers responded to a stabbing report in the 203-hundred block of Douglas Crescent just after 8:15 a-m this morning.

Targeted stabbing in Langley

Activist sues India in U.S. court over alleged plot that killed B.C. Sikh leader

Activist sues India in U.S. court over alleged plot that killed B.C. Sikh leader
Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, with the group Sikhs for Justice, says the civil lawsuit in the U.S. district court for southern New York is aimed at holding the Indian government accountable for alleged involvement in the shooting death of Hardeep Singh Nijjar in Surrey last year and a plot on Pannun soon after. The allegations have not been proven in court, and the Indian Embassy in Washington, D.C., has not responded to a request for comment.

Activist sues India in U.S. court over alleged plot that killed B.C. Sikh leader

Calgary man sentenced to six years in prison for sharing terrorism videos on TikTok

Calgary man sentenced to six years in prison for sharing terrorism videos on TikTok
A Calgary man who admitted to sharing Islamic State recruitment videos and propaganda on TikTok has been sentenced to six years in prison. Zakarya Rida Hussein, 20, was sentenced in court Friday after he earlier pleaded guilty to one of four terrorism-related charges.

Calgary man sentenced to six years in prison for sharing terrorism videos on TikTok

Surrey ER doctors call for 'new leadership' amid 'toxic' work environment

Surrey ER doctors call for 'new leadership' amid 'toxic' work environment
A letter sent to the president of Fraser Health Authority Dr. Victoria Lee, and published online, warns that deteriorating conditions in the department are "unequivocally leading to substandard care" and creating an "increasingly toxic work environment."

Surrey ER doctors call for 'new leadership' amid 'toxic' work environment