Fewer than half of assisted-death requests in Nova Scotia have been granted

Sixty-seven Nova Scotians have requested medical assistance to diesince Canada's assisted dying legislation was passed last June.

But of those 67 applicants, only 31 actually received medical help to die.

The Nova Scotia Health Authority, which oversees assisted dying in the province,said there are several reasons why the remaining applicants may have not received the help they requested.

Those 36 applicants may have died while waiting for approval, may not have met the criteria, may have withdrawn their applicationor may still have an applicationin progress.

The health authority could not immediately provide a breakdown of how many of the 36 applicants fell into each of those categories.

Meeting the requirements

The Nova Scotia statistics on medical assistance with death include applications filed between June 17, 2016, and March 31, 2017.

Sheilia Sperry, the Nova Scotia co-ordinator of Dying with Dignity Canada, saidshe's not surprised that more than half the applicants didnot receivethe help theyrequested.

In order to be eligible, applicants must, among other criteria,be in an advanced state of decline and be enduring intolerable suffering. Theirdeath must also be "reasonably foreseeable."

Sperry believes thosecriteriaare too restrictive.

"You have to be what is called actively dying. Inother words, you have to be close to death before they will even consider an application," Sperry said.

"I would expect quite a number of those 30-some people wouldhave died natural deaths simply because theywere so far down the process of dying when the application actually went in."

Adjusting legislation

Sperry would like to see the legislation allow people to apply well before death is imminent.

She said on the very day her husband was diagnosed with ALS, he knewhe did not want to end upon life-support.

"He told me, 'I do not want to be hooked up to any artificial support no feeding tube, no respiratory support. I want to just be left on my own. I don't want to end up gasping like a fish on a wharf, trapped inside my own body.'"

Sperry's husband died eight years after that diagnosis years before the legislation came into effect. But if the current legislation had been in existence then, he never would have had the peace of mind during those eight years that his life would end the way he wanted.

Sylvia Henshawagrees that Canada's laws on medically assisted death aretoo rigid. The Berwick, N.S., woman's husband, Douglas Henshaw, received medical help to diein September 2016.

Like Sperry, Henshaw would like the law to accept advanced care directivesinstructions that outline the conditions under which a person would prefer not to continue living and that specifythe person's wishes for the end of life.She also saidthe rules about what constitutes "reasonably foreseeable" death should be clearer.

Laws are 'a start'

But Henshaw is glad the legislation is in place.

"I think it's important that people know about it,know it's an option," she said. "As a beginning program, I am just so grateful that it came out when it did."

Sperry said despite the legislation's shortcomings,she's also glad Canada now has a law allowing medical assistance with death.

"At least it's a start," she said."For those who are suffering at the end of life, it's just such relief to know that you're still in control. It's the last little bit of control that you have at the end of your life."

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