Health
Statistics Canada admits to not identifying euthanasia as cause of death in official reports
From LifeSiteNews
Statistics Canada explained that if a Canadian struggling with cancer, for example, chooses to be euthanized, their death will be attributed to cancer in official reports, not euthanasia.
Statistics Canada has admitted to excluding euthanasia from deaths totals, despite being the sixth highest cause of mortality in the nation.
On November 28, Statistics Canada revealed that its euthanasia program MAiD (Medical Assistance in Dying), is not recorded as a cause of death in official reports. Instead, the government records the illness with which the person was suffering from that led them to chose to end their life as the cause of death.
“In the database, the underlying cause of death is defined as the disease or injury that initiated the train of morbid events leading directly to death,” StatsCan posted on X, formerly known as Twitter. “As such, MAID deaths are coded to the underlying condition for which MAID was requested.”
In the database, the underlying cause of death is defined as the disease or injury that initiated the train of morbid events leading directly to death. As such, MAID deaths are coded to the underlying condition for which MAID was requested.
For more info: https://t.co/aVXznOKq9S— Statistics Canada (@StatCan_eng) November 28, 2023
In other words, if a Canadian struggling with cancer chooses to be euthanized, their death will be attributed to cancer, not MAiD, in StatsCan’s databank.
The decision comes as deaths by MAiD are rapidly increasing in Canada. According to Health Canada, in 2022, 13,241 Canadians died by MAiD lethal injection, which is 4.1 percent of all deaths in the country for that year, and a 31.2 percent increase from 2021.
According to this method of recording, despite being the sixth leading cause, MAiD was not listed as a cause of death in a November report of the top 10 leading causes of death from 2019 to 2022.
If MAiD had been listed as a cause of death, it would have been placed just under cerebrovascular diseases and just above chronic lower respiratory diseases.
MAiD has rampantly increased in Canada, with many Canadians feeling forced to end their lives through euthanasia as wait times for treatment skyrocket to record highs.
This is the case of 52-year-old Dan Quayle, a grandfather from British Columba. On November 24, he chose to be “medically” killed by a lethal injection after being unable to receive cancer treatment due to the increased wait times.
Throughout the agonizing wait, his family “prayed he would change his mind or get an 11th-hour call that chemo had been scheduled,” but were instead told consistently by the hospital that they were “backlogged.”
The family is speaking out now “following the stories of two Vancouver Island women who went public with their decisions to seek treatment in the U.S. to avoid delays in B.C.” – and Dan’s wife believes that she could still have her husband today if he’d gotten the treatment he needed. In fact, wait times for cancer patients who are literally dying while waiting for treatment keep getting worse.
Unfortunately, Quayle’s story is not unique, as many Canadians have reportedly chosen to end their lives with MAiD as they are unable to obtain necessary healthcare.
However, instead of supporting the healthcare system to prevent Canadians from taking their own lives, the Trudeau government is working to expand access to MAiD by loosening its requirements.
On March 9, 2024, MAiD is set to expand to include those suffering solely from mental illness. This is a result of the 2021 passage of Bill C-7, which also allowed the chronically ill – not just the terminally ill – to qualify for so-called doctor-assisted death.
The mental illness expansion was originally set to take effect in March of this year. However, after massive pushback from pro-life groups, conservative politicians and others, the Liberals under Trudeau delayed the introduction of the full effect of Bill C-7 until 2024 via Bill C-39.
The expansion comes despite warnings from top Canadian psychiatrists that the country is “not ready” for the coming expansion of euthanasia to those who are mentally ill, saying expanding the procedure is not something “society should be doing” as it could lead to deaths under a “false pretense.”
The number of Canadians killed by lethal injection since 2016 now stands at 44,958.
Competitive compensation for resident physicians
A new compensation agreement for resident physicians has been reached, which will help to retain and recruit more physicians throughout Alberta.
Alberta’s government, in partnership with Alberta Health Services (AHS), the University of Alberta, University of Calgary and the Professional Association of Resident Physicians of Alberta has reached a four-year agreement that provides competitive and fair-market compensation for physicians in training.
The negotiated agreement provides wage increases of three per cent in each of the first two years, and two per cent in each of the last two years. It also includes market adjustments that put Alberta on par with other western Canadian medical schools.
Ensuring resident physicians receive competitive, fair-market compensation while they train and provide services across the province will help stabilize and strengthen acute health care today while bringing medical students and ultimately more physicians to the province to support the province’s future health needs.
“Alberta’s government is grateful for all the hard work resident physicians put in as they complete their training. We are pleased to see that a new agreement has been reached and look forward to more physicians calling Alberta home.”
“We are extremely grateful to all of our resident physicians, who play a vital role in caring for Albertans and supporting our front-line physicians and health care teams. This agreement will help us recruit medical students and encourage them to practise in this province.”
Rural and Remote Family Medicine Resident Physician Bursary Pilot Program
The agreement builds on actions Alberta’s government is taking to make the province a more attractive place for medical students and resident physicians to study and practise. On Oct. 3, Alberta’s government announced measures to improve health care in rural and remote communities through the new Rural and Remote Family Medicine Resident Physician Bursary Pilot Program. The bursary program is part of the province’s Rural Health Action Plan.
The pilot program will provide up to $8 million annually for the next two years to medical students in their final year of an undergraduate medical program when they are matched with a family medicine residency program at the University of Alberta or University of Calgary, or to residents currently completing a family medicine residency at either university regardless of their year of study. In return, bursary recipients will commit to delivering comprehensive patient care in eligible communities for three years after completing their residency.
“With this agreement, Alberta strengthens its position as an attractive destination for resident physicians across Canada. By enhancing compensation, training and working conditions, we ensure Alberta recruits and retains the brightest medical talent to serve our communities and shape the future of health care.”
“The University of Alberta is pleased collaborations with our partners have resulted in an agreement that reflects the critical impact resident physicians make in our health care system so all Albertans receive the care they need.”
“Remuneration, respect, retention and recruitment of rural generalists are key to elevating rural hospitals to becoming rural centres of excellence. With this agreement and bursary pilot program, the Alberta government is recognizing rural health as being different, requiring separate and unique solutions for our communities that are mutually beneficial in enhancing the health of rural Albertans.”
Quick facts
- Resident physicians have graduated medical school but are completing post-graduate training in a residency program to obtain their licence to practise. With residency programs requiring an additional two to seven years of post-graduate training, most resident physicians spend more than 10 years training to become fully licensed physicians and surgeons.
- The Professional Association of Resident Physicians of Alberta represents more than 1,660 resident physicians in Alberta.
- The current agreement between AHS, the University of Alberta, University of Calgary and the association ended on June 30, 2024.
- The resident physician agreement is funded by Alberta Health through a grant to AHS and the universities.
Related information
Related news
- Improving health care in rural and remote Alberta (Oct. 3, 2024)
From the Fraser Institute
Tragic stories of multiyear waits for patients are now a Canadian news staple. Is it any wonder, therefore, that a new Navigator poll found almost two-thirds of Canadians experienced (either themselves or a family member) unreasonably long for access to health care. The poll also found that 73 per cent of respondents agree the system needs major reform.
This situation shouldn’t surprise anyone. Last year Canadians could expect a 27.7-week delay for non-emergency treatment. Nearly half this time (13.1 weeks) was spent waiting for treatment after seeing a specialist—that’s more than one month longer than what physicians considered reasonable.
And it’s not as though these unreasonable waits are simple inconveniences for patients; they can have serious consequences including continued pain, psychological distress and disability. For many, there are also economic consequences for waiting due to lost productivity or wages (due to difficulty or inability to work) or for Canadians who pay for care in another country.
Canadians are also experiencing longer delays than their European and Australian universal health-care peers. In 2020, Canadians were the least likely (62 per cent) to report receiving non-emergency surgical treatment in under four weeks compared to Germans (99 per cent) and Australians (72 per cent).
What do they do differently? Put simply, they approach universal care in a different way than we do.
In particular, these countries all have a sizeable and well-integrated private sector that helps deliver universal care including surgical care. For example, in 2021, 45 per cent of hospitals in Germany (a plurality) were private for-profit. And 99 per cent of German hospital beds are accessible to those covered under the country’s mandatory insurance scheme. In Australia, governments regularly contract with private hospitals to provide surgical care, with private facilities handling 41 per cent of all hospital services in 2021/22.
These universal health-care countries also tend to fund their hospitals differently.
Governments in Canada primarily fund hospitals through “global budgets.” With a fixed budget set at the beginning of the year, this funding method is unconnected to the level of services provided. Consequently, patients are treated as costs to be minimized.
In contrast, hospitals in most European countries and Australia are funded on the basis of their activity. As a result, because they are paid for services they actually deliver, hospitals are incentivized to provide higher volumes of care.
The data are clear. Canadian patients are frustrated with their health-care system and have an appetite for change. We stand to learn from other countries who maintain their universal coverage while delivering health care faster than in Canada.
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