After the death of her husband, Maureen Pickering moved to the Caressant Care nursing home in Woodstock, before dying on March 28, 2014. Her last moments are now under scrutiny with police alleging she and seven other elderly people didn’t die naturally, but were drugged to death by a registered nurse.
Each dying patient has their own context and belief frame for their “suffering.” Each case has its own mix of causes, and things that make it worse or better. When we fully understand what’s going on, it is rare that suffering can’t be greatly palliated. It then follows that the perceived need to end life to alleviate suffering is a very rare occurrence.
Continue Reading → With assisted suicide, context is everything
Thanks to a referral from a compassionate ER nurse, Francis Young ended up at the West Island Palliative Care Residence, a hospice in Kirkland, Que., that has a reputation as one of Canada’s best – a model for how end-of-life care should be delivered.
Continue Reading → ‘I know I’m going to have a good death’: Why palliative care matters
Montreal landscape architect Archie Rolland vowed to end his life rather continue to suffer at a long-term care facility in Lachine he said was treating him inhumanely. On July 4, Roland fled the facility. Three days later, he was dead. Surrounded by friends and family at their country home at Métis-sur-Mer, Rolland closed his eyes and slipped from the living.
Continue Reading → Saying goodbye to Archie Rolland, who chose to die: ‘It is unbearable’
A year and a half after Canada’s assisted suicide legislation came into effect, Health Canada released its first draft regulations for monitoring the practice. Though they were intended to provide “transparency and [foster] public trust,” the draft of these standards raises many concerns.
Continue Reading → Proposed Canadian assisted dying regulations overlook many important details