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Sask. coroners to stop mandatory investigation of medically assisted deaths

The Saskatchewan Coroners Service will no longer be required to investigate medically assisted deaths after the province started recording them as “unclassified” instead of as suicides.

Change comes as province stops marking MAID deaths as suicides

Alicia Bridges · CBC News ·
The Saskatchewan Coroners Service used to investigate every medically assisted death. (CBC News)

The Saskatchewan Coroners Service will no longer be required to investigate medically assisted deaths after the province started recording them as "unclassified" instead of as suicides.

"They're very well regulated through the College of Physicians and Surgeons and there really was no need for a coroner to attend and put the family through the stress of having a coroner's investigation," said Saskatchewan Chief Coroner Clive Weighill.  

A total of 123 medically assisted (MAID) deaths were recorded as suicides in Saskatchewan before the change was made on Sept. 14, 2018.

It followed complaints from doctors and families who said the suicide classification was inaccurate and caused unnecessary pain to patients.

"I think it makes complete sense because it really doesn't fall under any of the other categories we had and I think suicide certainly has a stigma attached," said Weighill.
A sample copy of the medical certificate of death in Saskatchewan prior to the regulation change. MAID deaths will no longer be recorded as suicides. (Submitted)

A coroner was required to attend all 123 medically assisted deaths that took place in Saskatchewan after the federal government started allowing the practice in June, 2016.

I guess there's a good debate on how we should classify these but that really is up to Vital Statistics.- Clive Weighill, Saskatchewan chief coroner

Weighill said they will no longer need to investigate MAID deaths unless a claim is made that the death was suspicious.

"We will still investigate any death if somebody thinks it is sudden, unexpected, unnatural or unexplained," he said.

"But usually that would be, somebody would call, somebody thinks that didn't quite happen properly with the medical-assisted death, or maybe somebody was coerced."

Weighill said to his knowledge that has never happened in Saskatchewan.

Does change go far enough?

The change to the terminology applied to MAID deaths was made through an amendment to Section 14 of the Vital Statistics (Medical Certificate of Death) Amendment Regulations. It applies to a person's medical certificate of death, not their death certificate.

Susan Tataryn spoke out against the old policy after her mom Alice died with medical assistance last year.

She said dropping the suicide classification was a step in the right direction but questioned why the deaths could not be recorded as being "natural" because her mom was terminally ill.

"I guess there's a good debate on how we should classify these but that really is up to Vital Statistics to have those classifications, not with the coroner's office," said Weighill.

The law requires all MAID deaths to be approved by two physicians. A 10-day waiting period is required after that request has been approved.

With files from CBC's Stephanie Taylor

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