Euthanasia ‘case reports’ in Canadian province riddled with errors

British Columbia (BC) has documented nearly three thousand errors in the administration of its euthanasia programme in 2024.

According to an internal report, BC’s Medical Assistance in Dying (MAiD) Oversight Unit found that 51.9 per cent of cases “required follow-up”. Across these cases, 2,807 errors were detected.

In 2024, there were 4,169 requests to be killed by a euthanasia practitioner: 72 per cent were carried out, the remainder were “discontinued”.

Missing forms

The Oversight Unit stated that reportable MAiD outcomes had increased by 9.5 per cent and “case loads remained high”, meaning that there was “little capacity” for long-term planning or staff training.

Errors, the report said, “often result from missing forms” and various other reasons.

In 353 cases, practitioners and pharmacists required further education “to ensure they understand legal requirements and professional standards” associated with the euthanasia programme.

Canadian Catholic News, which obtained the data through a freedom of information request, noted that the “2024 findings closely mirror those from 2023, which included 2,833 errors in the management of 3,808 MAiD cases”.

‘Shocking’

Alex Schadenberg, the Executive Director of Euthanasia Prevention Coalition, said: “It’s all very shocking that you have such a large amount and percentage of errors in British Columbia. It’s clear there are huge problems.”

Amanda Achtman, Ethics Director at Canadian Physicians for Life, observed: “The staggering level of errors surrounding the practice of euthanasia in Canada betrays a level of indifference and callousness toward Canadian patients at end of life.

“At the same time, every euthanasia death is a medical ‘error’ because it is an aberration of sound medical practice rooted in the Hippocratic oath to ‘do no harm.’”