{"id":274639,"date":"2022-08-22T18:52:21","date_gmt":"2022-08-22T23:52:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.liveaction.org\/news\/?p=274639"},"modified":"2022-09-01T08:20:28","modified_gmt":"2022-09-01T13:20:28","slug":"canadian-soldier-euthanasia-ptsd","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/canadian-soldier-euthanasia-ptsd\/","title":{"rendered":"Canadian soldier seeking treatment for PTSD was offered euthanasia instead"},"content":{"rendered":"
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UPDATE 9\/1\/22:\u00a0<\/strong>The\u00a0National Post<\/a>\u00a0has reported that on August 16, the veteran, who was receiving treatment for a traumatic brain injury, was “casually” offered assisted suicide. By the 19th, Global News learned that the Veterans Affairs agent had “repeatedly” brought up the idea of assisted suicide for the veteran and continued to pressure him even after being asked by the veteran to stop. Allegedly, this agent had pushed another combat veteran to undergo assisted suicide and said that such a death was “better than blowing his brains out all over the wall or driving his car into something.” Veterans Affairs said it will be conducting an internal investigation.<\/p>\n

8\/22\/22:<\/strong> A veteran of the Canadian Forces sought treatment for a traumatic brain injury (TBI) and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), only for his medical team to suggest euthanasia instead.<\/p>\n

Global News reported<\/a> that the veteran, who has remained unnamed, was offered medical aid in dying (MAiD) by a Veterans Affairs Canada (VAC) employee, leaving him feeling shocked, disgusted, and betrayed. The veteran allegedly did not ask about MAiD and was not interested in it before the employee suggested it to him. Instead, he was looking to heal from his war injuries, and only received an apology after filing repeated complaints. Mercedes Stephenson, the Ottawa Bureau Chief and host for Global News, told Live Action News the incident occurred in July.<\/p>\n

Assisted suicide and euthanasia were approved in the country for non-terminal illnesses in March of 2021<\/a>, including for mental health issues.<\/p>\n

VAC confirmed to Global News that the incident happened, saying it was a conversation \u201cwhere medical assistance in dying was discussed inappropriately.\u201d However, Global News also said other sources have told them similar stories, raising concerns that this is not an isolated incident. And it has caused advocates to question<\/a> if veterans are even safe in the health care facilities meant to serve them.<\/p>\n

\u201c(My fear is) can somebody who\u2019s on a razor\u2019s edge be pushed in the wrong direction or negatively impacted by a suggestion … of something like medical assistance in dying?\u201d Sgt. Tobias Miller, who was injured while serving in Afghanistan, told Global News in a follow-up interview. \u201cWhen you have to fight daily against your own brain telling you things that you don\u2019t want to hear, I sort of question how a department whose sole job is to care for us and to help us heal would step in and \u2026 make an offering that could see veterans harm themselves.\u201d<\/p>\n

READ:\u00a0\u2018He was suffocating\u2019: Botched death row executions serve as warning sign for assisted suicide<\/em><\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

Scott Maxwell, executive director of Wounded Warriors Canada, added that the topic of mental health can be a fragile one, and this kind of suggestion can have dire consequences.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou get one chance at it,\u201d he said. \u201cEvery conversation matters, to the extent that they can be set back so they don\u2019t go on to receive any further care, or don\u2019t feel comfortable to reach out and access independent support.\u201d<\/p>\n

Canada has come under heavy criticism in recent months, as euthanasia has seemingly spread unchecked throughout the country. The number of deaths from euthanasia or assisted suicide rose 32%<\/a> in just one year, with other reports finding that palliative care<\/a> is suffering in the meantime. People have even qualified for MAiD solely due to disability<\/a>, poverty<\/a>, and financial issues<\/a>, with experts increasingly warning that more safeguards must be put into place.<\/p>\n

\u201cLike\u201d Live Action News on Facebook<\/a>\u00a0for more pro-life news and commentary!<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

UPDATE 9\/1\/22:\u00a0The\u00a0National Post\u00a0has reported that on August 16, the veteran, who was receiving treatment for a traumatic brain injury, was “casually” offered assisted suicide. By the 19th, Global News learned that the Veterans Affairs agent had “repeatedly” brought up the idea of assisted suicide for the veteran and continued to pressure him even after being […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":274753,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false},"categories":[5,4,3473],"tags":[1303,154,498,18728,8664,18727,18726],"yoast_head":"\nCanadian soldier seeking treatment for PTSD was offered euthanasia instead<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"A Canadian vet sought treatment for a traumatic brain injury and post-traumatic stress disorder, only for his medical team to suggest euthanasia instead.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/canadian-soldier-euthanasia-ptsd\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Canadian soldier seeking treatment for PTSD was offered euthanasia instead\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"A Canadian vet sought treatment for a traumatic brain injury and post-traumatic stress disorder, only for his medical team to suggest euthanasia instead.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/canadian-soldier-euthanasia-ptsd\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Live Action News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/liveaction\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2022-08-22T23:52:21+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2022-09-01T13:20:28+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/GettyImages-639017362-soldier.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1200\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"650\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Cassy Cooke\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@liveaction\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@liveaction\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Cassy Cooke\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/canadian-soldier-euthanasia-ptsd\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/canadian-soldier-euthanasia-ptsd\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Cassy Cooke\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/16622da192101346f516b7444d125392\"},\"headline\":\"Canadian soldier seeking treatment for PTSD was offered euthanasia instead\",\"datePublished\":\"2022-08-22T23:52:21+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2022-09-01T13:20:28+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/canadian-soldier-euthanasia-ptsd\/\"},\"wordCount\":590,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/#organization\"},\"keywords\":[\"assisted suicide\",\"Canada\",\"euthanasia\",\"Global News\",\"PTSD\",\"Sgt. 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