Welcome to the 21st WCP Virtual Congress Program Scheduling

Physician Assisted Death (PAD) or Medical Assistance in Dying (MAiD) has been legalized or decriminalized in over a dozen jurisdictions around the world, and assisted dying policies continue to evolve rapidly. There is wide variation between policies, including how policies address potential applications for assisted dying for mental illness. PAD/MAiD for sole criterion mental illness is available in the Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg and Switzerland, and recent Canadian legislation will permit MAiD for mental illness within two years. This session will explore medicolegal, ethical and public policy issues related to PAD/MAiD, focusing on the particular challenges posed with mental illnesses in the context of PAD/MAiD. Dr. Rebecca Brendel, a bioethicist at Harvard Medical School will consider the broad legal and clinical authority psychiatrists have historically been given in preventing suicide in relation to their new roles where aid-in dying laws are being adopted – specifically the challenge of distinguishing between desires to end one’s life in the setting of terminal illness and suicidality related to mental illness. Dr. K. Sonu Gaind, a University of Toronto Governor and psychiatrist, and panelist from the Council of Canadian Academies Expert Panel reviewing MAiD and Mental Illness, will review the Canadian experience and significant recent policy developments. Dr. Marie Nicolini, psychiatrist and researcher at the KU Leuven Center for Biomedical Ethics and Law, will review the ethical debate around irremediability, including examining the main areas of disagreement within this issue, empirical and conceptual assumptions, and remaining gaps and venues for future research.