Medical Assistance in Dying and Mental Health: A Legal, Ethical, and Clinical Analysis

Medical assistance in dying (MAiD) legislation is now over a year old in Canada, and consideration is turning to whether MAiD should be extended to include serious mental illness as the sole qualifying condition for being eligible for MAiD. This article considers this question from ethical and clini...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Canadian journal of psychiatry 2018-02, Vol.63 (2), p.80-84
Main Author: Simpson, Alexander I. F.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Assisted suicide
Death & dying
Eligibility
Ethics
Humans
Legislation
Mental Disorders
Mentally Ill Persons - legislation & jurisprudence
Suicide, Assisted - ethics
Suicide, Assisted - legislation & jurisprudence
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Summary:Medical assistance in dying (MAiD) legislation is now over a year old in Canada, and consideration is turning to whether MAiD should be extended to include serious mental illness as the sole qualifying condition for being eligible for MAiD. This article considers this question from ethical and clinical perspectives. It argues that extending the eligibility for MAiD to include those with a serious mental illness as the sole eligibility criterion is not ethical, necessary, or supported current psychiatric practice or opinion.
ISSN:0706-7437
1497-0015
DOI:10.1177/0706743717746662