Canadian healthcare workers suggest suicide for woman with spinal defect
Healthcare workers in Québec suggested a patient commit suicide to escape her maladies.
‘They don’t care’
Tracy Polewczuk suffers from spina bifida, a birth defect that prevents the spine from forming properly. Adults who have spina bifida can be afflicted with osteoporosis, early arthritis, trouble walking, lack of stamina, back pain, latex allergy, slow wound healing, and other symptoms.
Two years ago, Polewczuk broke her leg. She has not fully recovered and receives home care aid from healthcare workers provided by Pointe-Claire CLSC, a local community service center. The care, says Polewczuk, is wanting.
“I've gotten hurt several times because people won't listen,” she told CTV News.
“They don't bother asking like they know your name, but they don't address you. It's just so impersonal, and they don't care,” she added. "You get up when they tell you to. You go to bed when they tell you. You do what they tell you to. That's it. You have zero control over your life."
‘I want to survive’
Polewczuk said that she was twice offered the option of medical assistance in dying (MAID), a government-sanctioned medical suicide program. The suggestions, made by a nurse and a social worker on separate occasions, were unprompted.
"It feels like we are being pushed towards the MAID program instead of being given the help to live," Polewczuk said.
"I want to survive. I want to thrive. I want my life back. I want the opposite of what they're trying to have us do," she added.
Assisted suicide becoming a go-to option
MAID is trending in Canada, with 4,800 Québecers choosing assisted suicide in 2022 alone. The Quebec College of Physicians has advocated for extending the MAID program to deformed or severely ill infants.
Fifty-two-year-old Christine Gauthier, a Canadian Army veteran who suffers from a spinal cord injury, petitioned for a wheelchair lift to be installed in her house. Canada's Veterans Affairs office offered her assisted suicide.
Thirty-seven-year-old Kayla Pollock became severely paralyzed 11 days after her COVID-19 Moderna shot. In the hospital, following her paralysis diagnosis, hospital staff twice suggested the MAID program.
Another Army veteran named Mark Meincke was also twice offered assisted suicide by his Veteran Affairs caseworker, who added that Meincke’s family would receive government support if he chose to end his life: “We can do this for you, because we've done it before, and one veteran that we've done this for, after we completed MAID, we now have supports in place for his wife and two children.”
MAID became a viable option for virtually all Canadians in March 2021, when Bill C-7 received Royal Assent and legalized assisted suicide even for people who are not dying. Proponents have described the program as a solution to poverty and an end to discrimination.
