Tuesday, December 11, 2018

Religious Exemption from Brain Death - Taquisha McKitty

Tomorrow, the Ontario Court of Appeal hears oral arguments in the case of Taquisha McKitty. While Taquisha was determined and declared death in September 2017, she remains in the ICU at the William Osler Health System.

 Taquisha's family argues that she is has a constitutional right to opt out of the generally applicable rule that a patient is dead when she satisfies medical criteria (the CMAJ Guidelines).

 In June 2018, the Ontario Superior Court of Justice rejected the family's arguments. The court identified three main reasons for not finding a constitutional right to a religious exemption:

  1. The adverse impact on organ donation caused by subjectivity and uncertainty about what death means
  2. The impact in innocent 3rd parties if scarce ICU beds were allocated to the dead
  3. The costs to the healthcare system
I made similar arguments here and here.
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1 comment:

  1. AnonymousDecember 11, 2018 at 7:34 AM

    The adverse impact on organ donation caused by subjectivity and uncertainty about what death means
    The impact in innocent 3rd parties if scarce ICU beds were allocated to the dead
    The costs to the healthcare system

    These arguments are examples of "the tail is wagging the dog"
    Organ transplant is costing far more money and resources to the Canadian health system than supporting these neurologically disabled individuals can be afforded .
    Expense argument is false , you look how these individuals are cared for eg, Japan and more recently Jahi McMath and other similar cases in NJ.

    If the right to die is a constitutional right in Canada , then the right to live should be equally protected constitutional right in Canada.

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