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This week, media headlines and social media posts claimed a Canadian woman was approved for medical assistance in dying because she lost her ability to cook. The claim stems from an opinion article written by two Canadian psychiatrists who recount the woman’s story. But the article’s co-author says the woman had an underlying condition that meant she qualified for MAID, and her story was meant to highlight how psychological factors influenced her decision to choose the procedure, a decision she eventually delayed.
THE CLAIM
A headline this week in the British tabloid The Daily Mail reads, “Canada approved woman’s euthanasia request because she could no longer cook for her family, as country’s leading doctors warn the system is far too permissive.”
The claim was shared several times on the X platform, as well as on Instagram, including a post that claimed the government “almost killed” the woman because she couldn’t cook for her family.
The Daily Mail article drew from an opinion piece published Monday by the New York Times, in which two University of Toronto professors of psychiatry argue that medical providers should “pause” in order to help patients who are considering medical assistance in dying.
The authors share anecdotes involving two patients, including a woman in her 70s who “sought and received approval for assisted dying after she lost the ability to cook,” as she felt she had lost value to her family.
The other patient, a man in his 80s, said he chose a medically assisted death because the choice gave him agency as a Holocaust survivor.
However, the authors say both patients changed how they viewed the process after counselling and conversations that helped them understand alternatives to suffering or confront the psychological factors behind their decisions.
The woman ultimately chose to delay ending her life, while the man initially delayed and later chose the procedure, the authors say.
THE FACTS
Medical assistance in dying, also known as MAID, lets adults end their life with the help of a medical practitioner if they meet specific requirements spelled out in federal law.
A key condition is that the person must have a grievous and irremediable medical condition that causes unbearable physical or mental suffering. There are separate tracks for people whose natural death is reasonably foreseeable, and those whose death is not reasonably foreseeable but who meet the other eligibility requirements.
The federal government said Wednesday it would not extend MAID to people seeking it on the basis of mental illness alone.
Dr. Gary Rodin, a co-author of the New York Times article, said the claim that the woman was approved for medical assistance in dying because she lost the ability to cook is wrong.
“This patient had an underlying health condition that qualified her for MAID,” Rodin said in an email Tuesday. He did not elaborate on what her condition was, although in their article, he and co-author Madeline Li introduce themselves as psychiatrists who work with patients with advanced cancer.
The authors describe the woman as a matriarch who made Sunday dinners, and Rodin explained that her loss of function affected her sense of value as a person. Being unable to cook for her family “affected her will to live,” Rodin said.
“The patient clearly met criteria for MAID. The anecdote was meant to illustrate how psychological factors can affect patients’ decisions about the timing of proceeding with it,” he said.
Some critics of MAID argue the procedure has been fast-tracked without adequate safeguards and that a focus on approval ignores that not everyone needs MAID; others believe the practice is unethical.
The authors of the New York Times opinion piece, who have counselled patients about medical assistance in dying, caution that too many patients are getting the procedure without the opportunity to think carefully about it with a health provider.
“A society that permits assisted dying should also ask whether it has done enough to help people sustain their sense of dignity and meaning in life,” they write. “Death must not become the only kind of relief people can imagine.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 7, 2026.
Marissa Birnie, The Canadian Press
