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  Doctor in Canada donates her organs after a planned euthanasia

  Posted by Sarah on 15 October 2020 at 6:11 am

  A doctor in Canada with an incurable and debilitating illness has decided on a medically assisted death whilst also donating her organs to help others to live. The doctor would become the first person in Canada to do this.

  The doctor who had dedicated her life to helping patients has decided to end her suffering, whilst knowing her death will change the lives of others. The doctor in her 40’s was been diagnosed with multiple system atrophy, a rare neurological disease with no cure.

  After losing the ability to walk and now requiring a wheelchair to get around, she was also finding it harder and harder to swallow food, which raised the prospect of one day having food delivered through a tube to survive, a future she found unacceptable.

  The doctor then decided two things were important to her: she wanted to control when she died and she wanted to donate her organs.

  For the Canadian Blood Services, putting together medical assistance in dying (MAID) and organ donation was uncharted territory. There were ethical issues and patient needs to consider, as well as the impact on health-care providers.

  To develop the new guidelines, the organization worked with the doctor as a patient partner. Whilst the doctor was the first person to donate her organs after undergoing the MAID process, she was by no means the only patient seeking to do so.

  Impact on patient and health-care teams

  There are important differences between someone signing an organ donation card and a MAID patient consenting to donate. Ultimately, for MAID patients, it means having a different death than they might have imagined.

  “A person can now no longer die at home if they want to be able to donate their organs. That’s a big matter to them and the family they leave behind”

  MAID patients must agree to a hospital death so that their body can be transferred to the organ donation team with little delay. For friends and family, that means less time to grieve and mourn their loved one after their death.

  In the months before their death, MAID patients also have to travel to the hospital for a variety of tests. There are blood tests for infectious diseases, EEGs, X-rays and tests to assess the viability of the organs.

  Hospitals are now trying to find ways to offer a more comfortable, homey environment for MAID patients and their friends and families.

  The Canadian Blood Services’ new guidelines dedicated in part to the doctor, highlighting her incredible efforts to enable future patients considering MAID to donate their organs. Even in death, the doctor ensured her legacy continued helping others.

  

  Sarah replied 4 years, 9 months ago 1 Member · 0 Replies
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