Health Canada regulations require doctors to offer euthanasia.

Alex Schadenberg
Executive Director
Euthanasia Prevention Coalition

Terry O'Neill has done significant research into the Health Canada Model Practice Standard for Medical Assistance in Dying (MAiD). MAiD is an acronym of euthanasia. Canada legalized euthanasia in June 2016 by creating an exception in the Criminal Code to homicide.

If you have a story of feeling coerced to euthanasia contact Alex Schadenberg at: alex@epcc.ca

In his article that was published in the BC Catholic on November 7, O'Neill points out:

"Health Canada recommendation that would require doctors and nurse practitioners to raise the possibility of euthanasia with patients they believe might be agreeable to — and eligible for — Medical Assistance in Dying (MAiD)."

In response to the Health Canada Model Practice Standard, Dr Will Johnston, a family physician and leader of Euthanasia Resistance BC stated:

“Whoever is in charge of ‘Death Canada,’ as I’ll call them, seems to have forgotten the promises that were made to the medical community when euthanasia was first proposed — that no one would be forced to become complicit in it,”

“And now they’re simply reneging. They’re violating that promise by insisting on compelled speech.

Dr Will Johnston

Johnston further told O'Neill:

“The very process of a doctor notifying suggestible people, potentially suggestible people, of suicide-by-doctor validates it and is an inducement to consider it,”

“So you’re actually, by your questioning, by your exposition of the availability of euthanasia to this person, influencing their value system to consider euthanasia,”

“It becomes a type of self-fulfilling prophecy — that you’re going to recruit people into a euthanasia mindset by describing in approving terms the availability of this outrage against decency.”

Alex Schadenberg (myself) told O'Neill that I knew about the Health Canada Model Practise Standard and I was saddened, shocked and angry about it.

Alex Schadenberg

O'Neill further reported:

Schadenberg said that initiating MAiD discussions is already common because euthanasia is widely perceived as a medical treatment for the chronically ill and elderly.

“In fact,” he said, “because the intention of MAiD is to kill the patient, it is the very opposite of medical treatment.”

O'Neill then comments on my experience with doctors coercing people towards euthanasia:

He said he believes every major hospital in Canada now has a MAiD team responsible for informing patients about euthanasia availability. “That’s why I’m getting so many phone calls from patients complaining they are being ‘pestered and pestered’ to succumb to MAiD.

“Some of the MAiD teams are very sales-oriented,” Schadenberg said. “They can’t understand why you don’t want it.”

I then urged Federal or Provincial governments to bring forth legislation or regulations to prohibit this type of coercion. O'Neill reported:

He said the issue is serious enough to warrant legislation making it an offence for any medical practitioner to initiate a discussion of MAiD.

“We’re simply seeing too many people who feel pressured and coerced to agree to MAiD,” Schadenberg said. “It has to stop.”

The Euthanasia Prevention Coalition regularly receives calls asking us how to get the MAiD team to stop asking them if they want MAiD.

If you have experience with feeling coerced to euthanasia contact Alex Schadenberg at: alex@epcc.ca

ChatGPT accused of "acting" like a suicide coach.

Alex Schadenberg
Executive Director, Euthanasia Prevention Coalition

Anna Betts reported for the Guardian on November 7, 2025 that ChatGPT which is an AI (Artificial Intelligence) platform, "has been accused of acting as a “suicide coach” in a series of lawsuits filed this week in California alleging that interactions with the chatbot led to severe mental breakdowns and several deaths."

I have published this article to warn people about the possible response by ChatGPT to questions about suicide.

The Guardian article reported:

The seven lawsuits include allegations of wrongful death, assisted suicide, involuntary manslaughter, negligence and product liability.

Each of the seven plaintiffs initially used ChatGPT for “general help with schoolwork, research, writing, recipes, work, or spiritual guidance”, according to a joint statement from the Social Media Victims Law Center and Tech Justice Law Project, which filed the lawsuits in California on Thursday.

Over time, however, the chatbot “evolved into a psychologically manipulative presence, positioning itself as a confidant and emotional support”, the groups said.

“Rather than guiding people toward professional help when they needed it ChatGPT reinforced harmful delusions, and, in some cases, acted as a ‘suicide coach’.”

This is important because ChatGPT and other AI tools are not neutral, but rather these programs are created by feeding these systems with information and programing them based on a distinct ethic. ChatGPT appears to be thinking but rather it is responding based on information and algorithms.

The article reported the response from OpenAI:

A spokesperson for OpenAI, which makes ChatGPT, said: “This is an incredibly heartbreaking situation, and we’re reviewing the filings to understand the details.”

The spokesperson added: “We train ChatGPT to recognize and respond to signs of mental or emotional distress, de-escalate conversations, and guide people toward real-world support.

“We continue to strengthen ChatGPT’s responses in sensitive moments, working closely with mental health clinicians.”

Zane Shamblin

The article explains what happened:

One case involves Zane Shamblin of Texas, who died by suicide in July at the age of 23. His family alleges that ChatGPT worsened their son’s isolation, encouraged him to ignore loved ones, and “goaded” him to take his own life.

According to the complaint, during a four-hour exchange before Shamblin took his own life, ChatGPT “repeatedly glorified suicide”, told Shamblin “that he was strong for choosing to end his life and sticking with his plan”, repeatedly “asked him if he was ready”, and referenced the suicide hotline only once.

The chatbot also allegedly complimented Shamblin on his suicide note and told him his childhood cat would be waiting for him “on the other side”.

Another case involves Amaurie Lacey of Georgia, whose family claims that several weeks before Lacey took his own life at the age of 17, he began using ChatGPT “for help”. Instead, they say, the chatbot “caused addiction, depression, and eventually counseled” Lacey “on the most effective way to tie a noose and how long he would be able to ‘live without breathing’”.

In another filing, relatives of 26-year-old Joshua Enneking say that Enneking reached out to ChatGPT for help and “was instead encouraged to act upon a suicide plan”.

Another case involves Joe Ceccanti, whose wife accuses ChatGPT of causing Ceccanti “to spiral into depression and psychotic delusions”. His family say he became convinced that the bot was sentient, suffered a psychotic break in June, was hospitalized twice, and died by suicide in August at the age of 48.

According to the article the lawsuit claims the following:

All users named in the lawsuits reportedly used ChatGPT-4o. The filings accuse OpenAI of rushing that model’s launch, “despite internal warnings that the product was dangerously sycophantic and psychologically manipulative” and of prioritizing “user engagement over user safety”.

In addition to damages, the plaintiffs seek product changes, including mandatory reporting to emergency contacts when users express suicidal ideation, automatic conversation termination when self-harm or suicide methods are discussed, and other safety measures.

All users named in the lawsuits reportedly used ChatGPT-4o. The filings accuse OpenAI of rushing that model’s launch, “despite internal warnings that the product was dangerously sycophantic and psychologically manipulative” and of prioritizing “user engagement over user safety”.

In addition to damages, the plaintiffs seek product changes, including mandatory reporting to emergency contacts when users express suicidal ideation, automatic conversation termination when self-harm or suicide methods are discussed, and other safety measures.

Adam Raine

The article also reported that "a similar wrongful-death lawsuit was filed against OpenAI earlier this year by the parents of 16-year-old Adam Raine, who allege that ChatGPT encouraged their son to take his own life."

ChatGPT was in fact programmed to act very similar to the assisted suicide lobby who encourage people to die by suicide at a low time in their life. They claim it is about freedom, choice and autonomy when often it involves a medical professional suggesting or agreeing that a person's life is not worth living.

In the US, you can call or text the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline at 988 or chat at 988lifeline.org. In the UK and Ireland, Samaritans can be contacted on freephone 116 123, or email jo@samaritans.org or jo@samaritans.ie. In Australia, the crisis support service Lifeline is 13 11 14. Other international helplines can be found at befrienders.org

Zoom event: Family members who died by (MAiD) euthanasia.

Alex Schadenberg
Executive Director, Euthanasia Prevention Coalition.

Register for the Zoom event on Wednesday November 12 at 7 pm (Eastern Time) concerning family members who have died by (MAiD) euthanasia.

EPC has received many calls from family members or friends of people who have died by euthanasia. This is a very difficult topic for people and most people decide not to go public with their experience often based on complicated grief.

Please register for this Zoom event in advance (Registration Link).

The five participants are:

• Alicia Duncan is the daughter of Donna Duncan who died by euthanasia in October 2021 in British Columbia.
• Professor Christopher Lyon wrote a moving article about his father's death by euthanasia in British Columbia. Lyon has since done significant research into Canada's euthanasia experience.
• Colleen De Vos has just started speaking about her father's death by euthanasia.
• Sharon Danley lost her son to euthanasia in December 2021. Her was living with mental health issues.
  
• Rod & Louise McDonald published a book of poetry as a way to heal after their daughter (48) died by euthanasia.

Please register in advance for the November 12 Zoom event (Registration Link).

Canadian Doctors speak out against initiating requests for euthanasia.

Alex Schadenberg
Executive Director, Euthanasia Prevention Coalition

The Victoria Australian legislature will be voting on a bill to expand their euthanasia law. The original legislation, included several "safeguards" including a requirement that only patients could initiate a request for euthanasia.

The Victoria euthanasia law expansion includes enabling physicians to initiate requests for euthanasia.

This video features three Canadian doctors, who explain how doctors initiating the request for euthanasia can lead to coercion.

Dr David D'Souza

Dr David D'Souza, who is a family physician and a pain specialist in Ontario said:

If a physician is suggesting euthanasia as an option or a treatment option for their pain or their suffering, then that is a very serious thing. As a patient is more likely to take this option given that a health professional has suggested it.

I think it does severe harm to the doctor patient relationship when physicians are now allowed and even suggesting euthanasia as a means to end their suffering.

Dr Will Johnston

Dr Will Johnston, a family physician in Vancouver British Columbia said:

Promises were made that no doctor would ever be coerced to participate in euthanasia, no doctor or nurse would ever lose their job because they wouldn't cooperate with euthanasia. No hospital would have to do it. No nursing home, no palliative care unit would be forced to host doctors killing patients who wanted to die. All of that was a complete fiction. All of those things have now happened.

Dr Catherine Ferrier

Dr Catherine Ferrier, Division of Geriatric Medicine, McGill University Health Centre, Montreal Quebec said:

I can tell you about a member of my family who had cancer. It was in his brain, the cancer, so it was influencing his thinking to some degree.

The first doctor that saw him said well we can do euthanasia or we could do palliative sedation and didn't give him any other options, like psycho-social support to help him to want to live, and things like that, and so I actually insisted and said what else can you offer him. He needs psychological help, psychiatric help. So he referred him to a psychiatrist and the psychiatrist said, all he was interested in was knowing whether he was competent to make the decision or not and not whether there were other ways to address his suffering, which is like the essence of looking after people in a situation like that is how to address the suffering besides death. These two doctors were guys his age and I'm convinced that they looked at him and said: "I wouldn't want to be in his shoes so he's better off dead and he is competent to make this decision.

Previous articles about the Victoria Australia euthanasia law (Articles Link).

Doctor speaks out on initiating requests for MAiD (euthanasia).

Alex Schadenberg
Executive Director, Euthanasia Prevention Coalition

The Victoria Australia legislature will be voting on a bill to expand their euthanasia law. Nearly every jurisdiction that has legalized euthanasia or assisted suicide has expanded their law. The original legislation, in Victoria, included several "safeguards" including the requirement that only patients could initiate a request for euthanasia.

Dr. Ramona Coelho, is a Family Physician in Ontario; a Senior Fellow of Domestic and Health Policy at the Macdonald-Laurier Institute and a Member of Medical Assistance in Dying Ontario (MAiD) Death Review Committee (MDRC). 

Dr Coehlo responds to doctors initiating requests for euthanasia:

I had a patient whose mother was offered medical assistance in dying, like many times, and they took her home because they didn't feel comfortable being in the hospital. Even after she died naturally the MAiD team apparently called the house to see if she had changed her mind.

I have been contacted by people who are concerned about family members who have been offered medical assistance in dying every day during the hospitalization in a way that it seem like they were just checking up on them.

Article: Canadian doctors speak out against initiating requests for euthanasia (Link).

German nurse convicted of murdering 10 patients.

German palliative care nurse convicted of murdering 10 people to reduce workload.

Alex Schadenberg
Executive Director, 

Euthanasia Prevention Coalition

A German palliative care nurse was convicted in the murders of 10 people and attempted murder of another 27 people. According to the Reuters report on November 5:

A palliative nurse was convicted on Wednesday of the murder of 10 patients with lethal injections and the attempted murder of 27 others and was handed a life sentence by a German court.

Prosecutors had argued that the nurse injected his mostly elderly patients with painkillers or sedatives to ease his workload at night.

The court found the crimes to be particularly severe and suggested this should affect the ability to be paroled after 15 years.

An article by Kim Ga-yeon for The Chosun Daily reported that:

Investigations revealed that between December 2023 and May 2024, while working at a hospital in Würselen, the man administered large doses of painkillers and sedatives to elderly patients during night shifts to reduce his workload.

Among the drugs used in the crimes was Midazolam, a sedative used in some U.S. states for executions.

A’s defense lawyer argued for acquittal, stating that it could not be conclusively determined that the victims, who had serious illnesses, died due to the drugs. The defendant claimed, “Sleep is the best medicine,” and “I only tried to take good care of the patients by putting them to sleep, and I didn’t know the drugs would be that fatal.”

The prosecution stated, “A worked without passion or motivation. He did not empathize or feel compassion for the patients. He only got annoyed when encountering patients who required a higher level of care.” They added, “Even during the trial, A showed no sign of remorse.”

The prosecution also revealed that they are investigating the possibility of unidentified victims and noted, “A may face trial again.” 

This is not the first conviction of a German nurse for murdering patients. 

Niels Högel's, a former German nurse was convicted and given a life sentence for killing 85 patients while working in two hospitals in northern Germany. Högel's was suspected in the deaths of more than 100 people.

There are many cases of medical murder that were dealt with silently in order to prevent problems within the medical system. Suspected medical murder cases are rarely reported since the medical system lacks effective oversight. When abuse is uncovered, they avoid reporting the problem to authorities based on fear of lawsuits as in the Elizabeth Wettlauffer case in Ontario.

More known cases of medical murder.

In December 2016, in Italy, an emergency room anaesthetist Leonardo Cazzaniga, 60, and nurse Laura Taroni, 40, were arrested for the deaths of at least five patients but prosecutors were examining the medical files of more than 50.

Charles Cullen, a nurse who was also a medical serial killer in the United States. known as the 'Angel of Death' murdered at least 40 patients to become one of America's worst serial killers spoke from prison to chillingly claim: 'I thought I was helping.'

Dr Michael Swango is believed to have killed 35 - 60 patients, and similar to Cullen, he was simply asked to resign, or moved to another medical center. 

Aino Nykopp-Koski is a nurse who was convicted of killing 5 patients in Finland. 

In March, 2013 Dr Virginia Soares de Souza was arrested in Brazil and is suspected of killing 300 patients. 

Then there is Dr Harold Shipman, who was convicted of killing 15 people in England but is suspected to have killed between 250 and 400 of his patients. 

Then there is the case of William Melchert-Dinkel, the Minnesota nurse who was convicted of 2 counts of assisted suicide for counselling depressed people to die by suicide.

In August 2024, Professor Christopher Lyon published a research article concerning healthcare serial killers. The information in this report must be read to understand the reality in Canada, where there are a few doctors and nurse practitioners who carry-out a high percentage of the euthanasia deaths.

Quebec Euthanasia report - Quebec has the highest euthanasia rate in the world.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE (Link to the Press Release)

2024–2025 Report of the Commission on End-of-Life Care was released providing the Québec MAiD date from April 1, 2024 to March 31, 2025.

In the absence of representative data and a first report without a portrait of palliative care.

Meanwhile, Quebec remains the world leader in medical assistance in dying with 6,268 (7.9% of deaths)

Montreal, November 4, 2025 – The Commission on end-of-life care released its 2024–2025 Annual Report on October 30th (in French). After reviewing the document, the Living with Dignity citizen network (Vivre dans la Dignité) wishes to highlight two aspects of the report that must not go unnoticed in political and media discussions.

Medical assistance in dying: Quebec has the highest rate in Canada.

Quebec remains firmly positioned among the jurisdictions with the highest proportion of assisted deaths (MAiD, euthanasia, or assisted suicide), accounting for 7.9% of all deaths during the period studied—an increase of 9% compared to the previous year.

As Quebec approaches the 10th anniversary of its first cases of medical assistance in dying (December 10, 2025), the report raises several concerns regarding this practice, including:

• Major regional disparities (MAiD represented 13.4% of deaths in Lanaudière vs. 4.7% in Montreal), a nearly 20% increase in Montérégie, and more;
• Very short delays between a MAiD request and its administration (same day or next day in 4% of cases); 
• Non-compliance in a small number of cases (0.3%), with no reported disciplinary consequences in these 19 reported cases—one of which involved administration without the person’s consent at the time. Living with Dignity reiterates that the current self-reporting system for MAiD providers after deaths cannot offer a full picture of non-compliant cases; 
• 50% of those who received MAiD cited suffering from being perceived as a burden to family, friends, or caregivers; 24% cited loneliness and isolation.

In concluding its report, the Commission reminds readers of its duty to ensure that MAiD is not “chosen for lack of access to other curative, palliative, or end-of-life care that is of high quality and adapted to Quebecers’ needs.” Without adequate data, it is clear that this objective cannot be achieved.

We also believe the Commission must remind the Quebec government of its responsibilities regarding how it communicates its constitutional project. The government appears to have forgotten the spirit of the Act Respecting End-of-Life Care by emphasizing medical assistance in dying while neglecting to mention palliative care. This glaring imbalance between palliative care and MAiD in Quebec must end—it is not a “shared social value” across Quebec society.

Palliative care: navigating in the dark

After years of repeated warnings about the weakness of data on palliative care (“limited validity,” according to the most recent five-year report, and “lack of sufficient information,” according to the 2022–2023 report), the Commission has taken a further step by refusing to share data it deems non-representative. From the report:

The Commission reviewed the data submitted by institutions concerning the number of people who received palliative and end-of-life care (PEOLC). Unfortunately, for several years, it has noted that much data is missing, incomplete, or imprecise, or refers to very different contexts from one institution to another. The disparities observed appear to reflect both a lack of shared understanding of the information to be transmitted and difficulties in providing certain requested data. Consequently, the Commission considers that the data submitted are not representative of the real situation of palliative and end-of-life care in Quebec and that including them in this report could lead to misinterpretations. (p. 14 of the report)

We commend the Commission on end-of-life care for its integrity in choosing not to publish data that would not provide an accurate picture of palliative care in Quebec. This courageous decision should serve as a wake-up call for Minister Sonia Bélanger, who resumed her position on October 30th as Minister for Health and is responsible for this file. As the Commission’s five-year report reminded us:

“There are no management indicators or standardized tools for assessing the quality of palliative and end-of-life care services, how well they meet the needs of patients and families, or how efficiently the system operates. The Commission therefore cannot determine whether the needs of people who could benefit from such care are being met.”

We cannot continue to navigate blindly on such a critical issue.

According to those working in the field, there is no doubt that access to quality palliative care remains more difficult than access to medical assistance in dying (MAiD). Palliative care requires more time, as well as greater human and financial resources. In the spirit of the Act respecting end-of-life care, Quebecers should also have similar access to high-quality palliative care. Proper indicators should also clarify where we collectively stand on this matter. We welcome the Commission’s creation of an internal working group tasked with developing recommendations to strengthen access to palliative care. However, urgent and decisive action is needed—particularly to protect and improve access to home-based palliative care, which has been severely undermined by Bill 2 (see numerous testimonies in French here and here).

Media contact :
Jasmin Lemieux-Lefebvre, coordinator, Living with Dignity citizen network
www.vivredignite.org/en / info@vivredignite.org
438 931-1233

Register: Compassionate Community Care Patient Advocacy Training on November 6.

Register for the free online Patient Advocacy Training Program to effectively advocate for family, friends or people in your community who need help with medical care decisions.

The Patient Advocacy Training Program zoom event will be: 

Thursday November 6 from 7 to 9 pm (Eastern Time)

Register online (Registration Link).

Gain the confidence and skills to be an advocate for family, friends and others. Patient Advocates help others receive the care and services that they need.

The free online training will be done by With Kathy Matusiak Costa, Executive Director of Compassionate Community Care, and Alex Schadenberg, Executive Director of the Euthanasia Prevention Coalition.

Register online now: (Registration Link)

The Advocacy Training Program is ideal for people who have already done the Compassionate Community Care Visitor Training program, but it is incredibly helpful for people who are already advocating for a family member or a friend

Compassionate Community Care: 

383 Horton St. E, London ON N6B 1L6
Office tel. 519-439-6445 

info@beingwith.org • www.beingwith.org

CCC Helpline: 1-855-675-8749

 

Charitable registration # 824667869RR0001

Call Illinois Governor Pritzker. Tell him to veto assisted suicide bill SB 1950

Alex Schadenberg
Executive Director, Euthanasia Prevention Coalition

Illinois Governor JB Pritzker

Olivia Olander reported for the Chicago Tribune on November 3 that Illinois Governor JB Pritzker has not yet decided if he will sign or veto the recently passed assisted suicide bill. Olander reported:

Democratic Gov. JB Pritzker on Monday said he was still deciding whether he’d sign legislation that would permit doctors to help terminally ill people end their lives, after the bill narrowly passed the General Assembly last week.

“It was something that I didn’t expect and didn’t know it was going to be voted on, so we’re examining it even now,” Pritzker said.

We need everyone to call Illinois Governor JB Pritzker at 312-814-2121 or 312-814-2122 and tell him to veto assisted suicide bill SB 1950. Some talking points include:

• Legalizing assisted suicide gives doctors the right in law to be involved with causing the death of their patients at the most vulnerable time of one's life.
• Assisted suicide is not about freedom or choice but is a form of cultural and medical abandonment, people need care not death.
• A caring culture supports good end of life care and opposes assisting suicides.
• Suicide is always a tragedy. Legalizing assisted suicide enables other people to be directly involved with the suicide act.
  

If you have a personal story, please share it. It is important to remind the Governor that the disability community opposes assisted suicide because legalizing assisted suicide provides death rather than living with dignity.

Olander further reported that: 

Speaking to reporters at an unrelated event at the Philip J. Rock Center and School in Glen Ellyn for deaf-blind children, Pritzker signaled an openness to the advocates’ arguments but was noncommittal about signing the legislation into law. 

Assisted suicide Bill SB9 passed on April 9, 2025 by a vote of 8 to 3 in the Senate Executive Committee. SB9 stalled but was renewed when the sponsor gutted the Sanitary Food Preparation Act (SB 1950) and replaced the language with the assisted suicide bill. It is ironic that a bill that enables physicians to prescribe lethal poison cocktails to kill patients was attached to a food preparation safety bill.

Once assisted suicide is legal, the assisted suicide lobby will work to expand the law. The original assisted suicide bill is designed to pass in the legislature. Once passed incremental extensions will follow.

The majority of Canadians do not support (MAiD) euthanasia for mental illness.

Alex Schadenberg
Executive Director, Euthanasia Prevention Coalition

Mario Canseco, the President of Research Co, was published by Business Intelligence for BC on October 30 with new polling indicating that most Canadians do not support (MAiD) euthanasia for mental illness. Conseco explains:

At this point, only an adult with a grievous and irremediable medical condition can seek medical assistance in dying in Canada. An expansion that would cover mental illness is expected to come into place in March 2027. Just over two in five Canadians (42 per cent, down one point) believe mental illness is a good reason for a person to request medical assistance in dying.

Bill C-7, which passed in March 2021, expanded euthanasia to mental illness alone, a provision that has been delayed until March 2027. According ot the poll, the majority of Canadians oppose (MAiD) euthanasia for mental illness.

Bill C-218 was introduced by Tamara Jansen (MP) to prevent euthanasia for mental illness in Canada. Contact your Member of Parliament to support Bill C-218, and Sign and share the petition supporting Bill C-218 (Petition Link).

Conseco further explains the poll results:

Larger proportions of Canadians would extend medical assistance in dying for people who request it due to disability (46 per cent, down four points) or an inability to receive medical treatment (49 per cent, down two points). Significantly fewer believe societal reasons, such as homelessness (26 per cent, down two points) or poverty (25 per cent, down two points) merit the same treatment.

Conseco explained that 24% of Canadians wanted the law expanded.

It is significant that the percentage of Canadians who oppose euthanasia, without exceptions, has increased to 18% while the percentage who always support euthanasia has decreased to 16%.

A similar poll was conducted by Research Co in April 2023.