What the experiences of young persons can teach us about medical aid in dying for psychiatric illness

What the experiences of young persons can teach us about medical aid in dying for psychiatric illness
JAMA Psychiatry; Brent Kious, MD, PhD; 1/25
Medical aid in dying (MAID) is becoming ever more available. While it is most often used by persons with terminal illnesses, it is also becoming more accessible to those with a primary psychiatric illness. Some countries, including the Netherlands, have long allowed MAID for persons experiencing unbearable and irremediable suffering due to a mental illness. In Canada, Quebec’s Superior Court ruled in 2019 that restricting MAID to persons with a “reasonable foreseeable natural death” violates key sections of the Canadian Charter, implying that MAID must be made available to persons with nonterminal conditions, including psychiatric illness. Meanwhile, while only persons with terminal illness can access MAID in those parts of the US that have legalized it, some physicians have argued that certain psychiatric illnesses, especially anorexia nervosa, can be terminal, opening the door to MAID for persons with a primary psychiatric illness.