Why Canadian MAiD is Not a Medical Procedure

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Canada introduced Medical assistance in dying (MAiD) in 2016, and it now accounts for more than 5% of all deaths in the country. Although it is framed as a healthcare service, MAiD is fundamentally incompatible with medicine. There are procedural, philosophical, and ethical distinctions between MAiD and palliative care, which are also confirmed by major national and international organizations including the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Canadian Society of Palliative Medicine. MAiD contradicts the foundational principles of medicine, including the Hippocratic Oath's prohibition against administering lethal substances. The intentional killing of a patient, regardless of consent, cannot constitute a therapeutic act. Normalized terminology and systemic underfunding of palliative care obscure these distinctions and risk eroding the physician–patient relationship.

▼Pearce publications

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Agrivoltaics · Energy Conservation · Energy Policy · Floatovoltaics · Industrial Symbiosis · Life Cycle Analysis · Materials Science · Medical · Open Source · Photovoltaic Systems · Resilient Food · Solar Cells · Sustainable Development · Sustainability Education · Water

• https://www.canada.ca/en/health-canada/services/publications/health-system-services/annual-report-medical-assistance-dying-2024.html#a1

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  Why Canadian MAiD is Not a Medical Procedure
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  Government Economics of Expanding Canada’s Medical Assistance in Dying to Vulnerable Populations and the Ethical Implications of Allowing the State to Control Death
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keywords = ethics, medical ethics, mortality, human deaths

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• 
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• 
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• 
  Reassessing Recreational Cannabis Cultivation Through a Sustainability Lens: Public Health Externalities and Agricultural Opportunity Costs in Canada
• 
  Quantifying the Human Mortality Costs of Patent-based Intellectual Property: How Many Premature Deaths are due to Patents?
• 
  Response to a Critique: Errors with Acri’s Opinion Piece Defending IP, While Premature Deaths Pile Up from Patents
• 
  Why Canadian MAiD is Not a Medical Procedure
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  Government Economics of Expanding Canada’s Medical Assistance in Dying to Vulnerable Populations and the Ethical Implications of Allowing the State to Control Death
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