Euthanasia for post Covid-19 vaccination syndrome

Alex Schadenberg
Executive Director, Euthanasia Prevention Coalition

The Ontario MAiD Death Review report has three parts (Part 3) (Part 2) (Part 1)

I have already published several articles concerning the stories that are outlined in the recent euthanasia review that was published by the Chief Coroner of Ontario.

• Ontario Coroner report: Some euthanasia deaths are driven by homelessness, fear and isolation (Link). 
• Ontario Coroner's euthanasia review: Poor at risk of coercion (Link)

Sharon Kirkey focuses on the case of the man who was living with post Covid-19 vaccination syndrome who died by euthanasia in her article that was published by the National Post on October 24, 2024. Kirkey writes:

An Ontario man in his late 40s with a history of mental illness died by euthanasia after his assisted death assessors decided that the most reasonable explanation for his physical decline was a post COVID-19 “vaccination syndrome.”

The term is controversial — Canada’s current vaccine reporting system for adverse events doesn’t include “post-vaccine syndrome” — and multiple specialists consulted before his death couldn’t agree on a diagnosis, raising questions as to whether the man’s condition met the criteria for an “irremediable,” meaning a hopeless, incurable condition.

The death of the man with Covid-19 vaccination syndrome was one of 6 concerning deaths outlined in the Ontario Coroner's review. Kirkey continues:

Identified as “Mr. A,” the man experienced “suffering and functional decline” following three vaccinations for SARS-CoV-2. He also suffered from depression, post-traumatic stress disorder, anxiety and personality disorders, and, “while navigating his physical symptoms,” was twice admitted to hospital, once involuntarily, with thoughts of suicide.

“Amongst his multiple specialists, no unifying diagnosis was confirmed,” according to the report. However, his MAID assessors “opined that the most reasonable diagnosis for Mr. A’s clinical presentation (severe functional decline) was a post-vaccine syndrome, in keeping with chronic fatigue syndrome.”

There were no “pathological findings” at a post-mortem that could identify any underlying physiological diagnosis, though people’s experiences can’t be discounted just because medicine can’t find what’s wrong with them.

So let's be clear. The man had no identified cause of his condition and after his death the post-mortem identified no physiological diagnosis, and yet he was killed by euthanasia (lethal poison). Kirkey continues:

Some members of the MAID death review panel also questioned whether a condition “previously unrecognized in medicine” — namely, a possible “post-vaccine somatic (meaning affecting the body) syndrome” — could be considered incurable.

The case highlights the challenges and uncertainties of granting euthanasia for people who aren’t terminally ill and whose natural deaths are not reasonably foreseeable — so-called “Track 2” cases.

Kirkey then examines other cases that were published in the Chief Coroner of Ontario's euthanasia review:

Another case involved a different man in his late 40s with severe ulcers and multiple mental illnesses, including depression, anxiety, narcissistic personality disorder, bipolar disorder and chronic thoughts of suicide.

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A year before he died by an assisted death, he attempted suicide by jumping from a height.

Another case involved an unemployed male in his 40s with inflammatory bowel disease who was living with few social supports, was dependent on family for housing and financial support, and who struggled with alcohol and opioid addictions. He wasn’t offered treatment for his addictions, and his family had concerns about his request for MAID.

During a psychiatric assessment, the man was asked if he was aware of MAID, and given information on the option.

His MAID provider later personally drove the man to the location where he was euthanized, which multiple members of the death review committee considered a transgression of professional boundaries that could be seen as “hastening a person towards death.”

All of these deaths show how Canada's euthanasia law has gone out-of-control.

What is more concerning is that there are people who have been killed and yet there have been no attempted prosecutions of doctors and no medical licenses have even been attempted to be removed even though the review outlines 6 cases that were representative of other euthanasia deaths that fell outside of the law.

Nations/Jurisdictions should never legalize euthanasia. 

The reality is that once killing is legalized it nearly becomes impossible to regulate.