TL:DR – Jolene Van Alstine, a Canadian woman with a painful but treatable condition, was approved for assisted death after being unable to access surgery through her provincial health system. Canada’s MAiD law allows nonterminal patients to qualify based on suffering alone. There is no evidence she was coerced, but her case shows how assisted death can become the default when health care access fails. In the United States, she would not qualify for medical aid in dying because her illness is not terminal. The case raises policy questions about whether assisted dying should be available when treatment exists but is unreachable.
Jolene Van Alstine did not arrive at Medical Assistance in Dying because her body was shutting down. She arrived there because the health care system stopped responding.
Van Alstine, a Saskatchewan woman, has spent roughly eight years living with normocalcemic primary hyperparathyroidism, a painful endocrine disorder that affects bones, kidneys, and neurological function. She underwent three surgeries without resolution. Doctors agree the condition is medically treatable, but no surgeon in her province performs the procedure she needs. To obtain treatment elsewhere in Canada, she requires a referral from an endocrinologist. None in her region are accepting new patients.
That impasse defines the policy problem.
Continue Reading
This article was originally published on Substack. Subscribe to get updates directly to your inbox.