Roger Foley, who has a degenerative brain disorder and is hospitalized in London, Ontario, was so alarmed by staffers mentioning euthanasia that he began secretly recording some of their conversations.
In one recording obtained by the AP, the hospital’s director of ethics told Foley that for him to remain in the hospital, it would cost “north of $1,500 a day.” Foley replied that mentioning fees felt like coercion and asked what plan there was for his long-term care.
“Roger, this is not my show,” the ethicist responded. “My piece of this was to talk to you, (to see) if you had an interest in assisted dying.”
Foley said he had never previously mentioned euthanasia. The hospital says there is no prohibition on staff raising the issue.
Catherine Frazee, a professor emerita at Toronto’s Ryerson University, said cases like Foley’s were likely just the tip of the iceberg.
which makes sense to me, in a cynical way. euthanasia was an ethical debate, so it makes sense MAID administration would go in ethics department. then as a director, their performance reviews are probably a function the hospital's bottom line. MAID was even promoted as a cost-saving measure. which.. yeah. you can save a ton of money if you only take on healthy patients and kill off the medically complex cases (like me!)
for the record I'm in favor of assisted dying, as a personal decision, but government programs for the disabled are already quite terrible, and the conflict of interest is massive and brutal.
It varied by region, but in Canada we saw nonsensical and harmful policies like the lengthy forced shutdowns of businesses (causing job loss, business loss, and immense stress), lengthy school shutdowns and other education disruptions, curfews, coerced and forced medical procedures (testing, masking, shots), the clothing and shoes sections of retail stores being deemed "non-essential" and being taped off, golf courses and all outdoor playgrounds being closed in Ontario, and so on.
In one recording obtained by the AP, the hospital’s director of ethics told Foley that for him to remain in the hospital, it would cost “north of $1,500 a day.” Foley replied that mentioning fees felt like coercion and asked what plan there was for his long-term care.
“Roger, this is not my show,” the ethicist responded. “My piece of this was to talk to you, (to see) if you had an interest in assisted dying.”
Foley said he had never previously mentioned euthanasia. The hospital says there is no prohibition on staff raising the issue.
Catherine Frazee, a professor emerita at Toronto’s Ryerson University, said cases like Foley’s were likely just the tip of the iceberg.
https://apnews.com/article/covid-science-health-toronto-7c63...