Next year's expansion of the criteria for medically assisted death will allow Canadians like Lisa Pauli, whose sole underlying condition is mental illness, the choice to die in this way.
I agree in principle, but that’s not what’s happening in the real world.
My husband has ME/CFS. It’s a life-destroying disease, even though it doesn’t usually kill you. There’s no treatment, no cure, and no idea about the underlying cause, after many decades of research.
It’s heartbreaking to read messages from people who caught it as a teen, seen all their schoolfriend grow up, experience life, find love etc, all while the sufferer is in pain all day, no hope of improving, relying heavily on what family they have who are willing to support.
This is by no means ideal, but neither is decades of suffering. I err on the side of reducing the constant pain.
To be fair, that’s a poor example, as the research on ME/CFS is dogshit. It never gets the attention it deserves and its victims suffer in deafening silence, because it’s not some sexy field to research and there’s no immediate, highly visible threat to the almighty economy.
We’re seeing this mirrored with long COVID. At least 16 million Americans are suffering from it — nearly 1 in 20 — and, even with rates that enormously high, research is moving at a glacial pace. There’s no operation warp speed, no coordinated global effort, nobody in world leadership gives a fuck.
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I agree in principle, but that’s not what’s happening in the real world.
My husband has ME/CFS. It’s a life-destroying disease, even though it doesn’t usually kill you. There’s no treatment, no cure, and no idea about the underlying cause, after many decades of research.
It’s heartbreaking to read messages from people who caught it as a teen, seen all their schoolfriend grow up, experience life, find love etc, all while the sufferer is in pain all day, no hope of improving, relying heavily on what family they have who are willing to support.
This is by no means ideal, but neither is decades of suffering. I err on the side of reducing the constant pain.
Mental illness treatments are often ineffective. Those with mental illness tend to suffer lifelong, even if they can afford care.
To be fair, that’s a poor example, as the research on ME/CFS is dogshit. It never gets the attention it deserves and its victims suffer in deafening silence, because it’s not some sexy field to research and there’s no immediate, highly visible threat to the almighty economy.
We’re seeing this mirrored with long COVID. At least 16 million Americans are suffering from it — nearly 1 in 20 — and, even with rates that enormously high, research is moving at a glacial pace. There’s no operation warp speed, no coordinated global effort, nobody in world leadership gives a fuck.