Alex Schadenberg
Executive Director, Euthanasia Prevention Coalition
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Dr Ellen Wiebe
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A British Columbia judge halted the euthanasia death of a woman from Alberta who was scheduled to be euthanized by Dr Ellen Wiebe on Sunday October 27, 2024. (Link to the injunction decision).
The court has a publication ban on this case. The common-law husband is referred to as A.Y. and the woman is referred to as N.B.
1. The case is based on A.Y arguing that N.B. does not qualify to be killed by euthanasia because she does not have an irremediable medical condition.
2. The case suggests that Dr Wiebe inappropriately approved the death of N.B. How many people have been approved for death in a manner that skirts the practice of the law?
3. How many people has Dr Wiebe killed by lethal poison (MAiD) who did not have an irremediable medical condition or fit the criteria of the law?
[Please read my previous article: BC Judge halts euthanasia deaths scheduled by Dr Wiebe (Link).]
This case has not been heard in court. I am quoting from the decision by Justice Simon R Coval who granted a 30-day injunction.
Question 1: Did the woman qualify to be killed by euthanasia in Canada?
A.Y.’s position is that N.B. does not meet the legal criteria for MAID because her condition is one of mental illness or disability, rather than a physical malady, and because it is not an “irremediable” medical condition but in fact one that can be treated in a relatively short period of time.
N.B. had begun to explore MAID in January or February 2024. A.Y.’s evidence is that N.B.’s own doctors in Alberta would not approve it and so she began to search online for doctors who might. She eventually learned of the defendant, Dr. Wiebe, who has a clinic in Vancouver, and she contacted Dr. Wiebe in mid-July.
A.Y. stated that N.B.
is living with "akathisia" a condition associated with changing
doses of psychotropic or antipsychotic medication. "Akathisia" is a
treatable condition but A.Y. states that N.B. was not following the advice
of the specialists. A.Y. stated that:
We ([N.B.], Anna Maclnnes and myself) scheduled a second (emergency) consultation with Dr. Horowitz on October 17, where he reiterated his view that she might recover from her akathisia. He again told her to pause her medication tapering and let her body adjust. He said her akathisia might go away in a matter of months. Probably 2 to 6 months. Then, if she followed his advice, she could finish weaning off the drugs without akathisia. Dr. Horowitz appeared surprised that akathisia would justify a MAiD procedure, and gently attempted to discourage [N.B.] from pursuing this goal by suggesting for her to wait another 6 months.
Akathisia has significant chronic side-effects including suicidal ideation, but it is not an irremediable medical condition, which is what the Canadian law requires for MAiD approval.
Question 2: What did Dr Ellen Wiebe do to approve N.B. for death by euthanasia?N.B. had begun to explore MAID in January or February 2024. A.Y.’s evidence is that N.B.’s own doctors in Alberta would not approve it and so she began to search online for doctors who might. She eventually learned of the defendant, Dr. Wiebe, who has a clinic in Vancouver, and she contacted Dr. Wiebe in mid-July.
To A.Y.’s understanding, N.B. had at least two video calls with Dr. Wiebe in July and August and Dr. Wiebe approved her for MAID at the end of their first call. His evidence is that Dr. Wiebe did not speak directly with N.B.’s doctors, though N.B. provided her with some of her medical records. Dr. Boodhoo has advised A.Y. that his records were not requested for delivery to Dr. Wiebe.
A.Y. saw N.B.’s MAID form, which she submitted on August 30, 2024. The form stated akathisia as her reason for seeking MAID. Because she could not get anyone she knew to witness her form, a volunteer from Dr. Wiebe’s clinic did so for her. A.Y.’s evidence is that, because N.B. did not have a second doctor to provide the requisite second MAID assessment, Dr. Wiebe arranged the second assessor, Dr. Elizabeth Whynot, whom N.B. met in a video call on September 23, 2024.
In October 2024, N.B. had another online appointment with Dr. Wiebe, which A.Y. attended. A.Y.’s evidence about what was said is this:
Sometime in Oct 2024, [N.B.] had another appointment with Dr. Wiebe. I attended that meeting. As I am concerned that akathisia is not an irremediable condition, I asked Dr. Wiebe if she had ever carried out MAiD on someone with akathisia. Dr. Wiebe said that she did not. During the same Zoom session, I also attempted to describe [N.B.] as a person with unresolved mental health problems which were probably not considered during the MAID assessment. Dr. Wiebe responded by stating that diagnosis does not matter, and that only quality of life mattered, and that this was her [N.B.’s] right.
According to the A.Y. affidavit Dr Wiebe approved N.B. for euthanasia even though N.B. does not have an irremediable medical condition. Dr Wiebe was told that N.B.'s "wish to die" may be related to unresolved mental health problems. Dr Wiebe responded to the concern by stating that the:
diagnosis does not matter, and that only quality of life mattered, and that this was her [N.B.’s] right.
Question 3: How many people has Dr Wiebe killed who did not qualify for euthanasia?
I can't answer this question but a full investigation must be done. Dr Wiebe has been featured in several articles about Canada's euthanasia law.
Maria Cheng and Angie Wang reported for the Associated Press on October 16, 2024 that Ellen Wiebe stated:
while poverty inevitably exacerbates suffering, improved housing and social situations have never changed a patient’s mind.
“The idea that because I’m disabled, I should lose my rights that undisabled people have is outrageous,” said Wiebe, who suffers from heart disease and uses a wheelchair.
She predicted legal consequences if officials introduce more safeguards for euthanasia: “We’ll just be back in court with somebody saying, ‘You interfered with my basic human rights.’”
In a research article by Alexander Raikin titled: Canada How death care pushed out health care, Raikin reports Dr Wiebe commenting in a MAiD training video in response to a hypothetical question about a person who cannot consent at the point of death but shows signs of resistance. Raikin reports:
The moderator, Ellen Wiebe, is one of Canada’s most prolific “MAID providers” and a leader in the MAID community. On request, she has hastened the deaths of at least 400 people, including some cases that other assessors believed were illegal. She offered an answer: “I’m guessing I would bring in one of their other providers, you know, palliative care or, or whatever, and get them sedated. But what would you say?”
Another article by Alexander Raikin published by The New Atlantic in December, 2022 tells how Ellen Wiebe provided euthanasia to a man who had been rejected for euthanasia in his own city. Raikin reports:
In another CAMAP seminar recording, we learn of a man who was rejected for MAID because, as assessors found, he did not have a serious illness or the “capacity to make informed decisions about his own personal health.” One assessor concluded “it is very clear that he does not qualify.” But Dying with Dignity Canada connected him with Ellen Wiebe, a prominent euthanasia provider and advocate in Vancouver. She assessed him virtually, found him eligible, and found a second assessor to agree. “And he flew all by himself to Vancouver,” she said. “I picked him up at the airport, um, brought him to my clinic and provided for him,” meaning she euthanized him.
Amy Hasbrouck reported in May 2020 on a case of a woman who decided to stop eating and drinking, and was euthanized by Dr Wiebe. Hasbrouck wrote:In June of 2016, just as medical aid in dying (MAiD) was adopted in Canada, a British Columbia woman known as Ms. S. who had Multiple Sclerosis was evaluated for MAiD by Dr. Ellen Wiebe. According to Jocelyn Downie, Dr. Wiebe concluded that Ms. S. met most of the eligibility criteria (incurable condition, advanced state of decline in capability, and enduring and intolerable suffering) but the doctor did not believe Ms. S. would die “in the foreseeable future,” so she was determined ineligible.
Dr. Wiebe exchanged correspondence with Ms. S. in December of 2016 and January of 2017, to the effect “that the patient’s life expectancy was not short enough to qualify for medical aid in dying.” Then in mid-February of 2017, “Ms. S decided to starve herself to death at home, with the support of palliative-care nursing.”
Her husband called Dr. Wiebe two weeks later, and Dr. Wiebe visited Ms. S. on March 3. At that time, Dr. Wiebe determined that she met all eligibility criteria, and she was euthanized on March 6, 2017.
Dr Wiebe has a history of controversial euthanasia cases. She is the doctor who entered a Jewish care home to complete a euthanasia death, even though she knew that the Jewish care home had a policy of not permitting euthanasia on the premises.
The Euthanasia Prevention Coalition urges authorities in British Columbia to conduct an in-depth review of Dr Wiebe's euthanasia practice. If they are unwilling to provide the necessary oversight of the law then the RCMP must be brought in to review the questionable acts of euthanasia performed by Dr Wiebe.
Until an investigation is completed, Dr Wiebe's medical license should be temporarily suspended in order to protect her patients. It is necessary to provide effective oversight of the law and to protect people from doctors, like Ellen Wiebe, who considers "euthanasia to be the best work" she has ever done.
