Close X
Friday, November 1, 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

Liberals announce expansion to mortgage eligibility, draft rights for renters, buyers

Liberals announce expansion to mortgage eligibility, draft rights for renters, buyers
Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland has announced changes to mortgage rules she says are aimed at helping more Canadians to purchase their first home. The government will also expand its 30-year mortgage amortization to include first-time homebuyers buying any type of home, as well as anybody buying a newly built home.

Liberals announce expansion to mortgage eligibility, draft rights for renters, buyers

B.C. municipal leaders gather to talk infrastructure, addiction, emergency management

B.C. municipal leaders gather to talk infrastructure, addiction, emergency management
Municipal leaders are going to spend the week discussing more than 200 pages worth of resolutions at the conference. Mandewo says issues surrounding addiction and toxic drugs are front and centre in members' minds. Resolutions include calls for more overdose prevention sites, more complex care beds for people struggling with addiction, and more money directed at community safety.

B.C. municipal leaders gather to talk infrastructure, addiction, emergency management

Man slashed across the face: VPD

Man slashed across the face: VPD
Vancouver police say a man needed to be hospitalized after being slashed across the face.  Police say it happened late Saturday night in the Granville Entertainment District.

Man slashed across the face: VPD

Fatal vehicle fire in Coquitlam

Fatal vehicle fire in Coquitlam
Mounties in Coquitlam say they’re investigating a fatal vehicle fire in the parking lot of the City Centre Aquatic Complex. Police were called yesterday to the report of the fire and say they found a body inside the vehicle. 

Fatal vehicle fire in Coquitlam

Two dead after truck carrying seven teens crashes in eastern Alberta

Two dead after truck carrying seven teens crashes in eastern Alberta
A 19-year-old and a 17-year-old are dead after police say a truck carrying seven teens crashed in eastern Alberta. RCMP say officers responded to the single-vehicle crash early Sunday on a township road near Consort, approximately 260 km northeast of Calgary.

Two dead after truck carrying seven teens crashes in eastern Alberta

Eby pledges involuntary care for severe addictions in B.C., ahead of October election

Eby pledges involuntary care for severe addictions in B.C., ahead of October election
British Columbia will be opening secure facilities to provide involuntary care under the Mental Health Act for those with severe addictions who are mentally ill and have sustained a brain injury, the premier announced Sunday just days ahead of the start of a provincial election campaign. David Eby pledged a re-elected NDP would change the law in the next legislative session to "provide clarity and ensure that people, including youth, can and should receive care when they are unable to seek it themselves."

Eby pledges involuntary care for severe addictions in B.C., ahead of October election