The Nova Scotia Court of Appeal has rejected a woman’s bid to stop her 83-year-old husband from receiving a medically assisted death.
In a ruling released Friday, a three-member panel says the court has no jurisdiction to determine eligibility for medical assistance in dying, including whether an individual has capacity.
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It says the determination should be left to approved health-care assessors.
The Appeal Court says the 82-year-old woman has not raised a “justiciable issue,” and it dismissed her appeal of a lower court ruling that rejected her request for a temporary injunction against her husband.
The man’s wife had argued that her husband’s wish to die is based on anxiety and delusions.
However, the lower court judge concluded the man, who has end-stage chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, was entitled to the procedure because he met the criteria under federal law and would suffer “irreparable harm” if an injunction were granted.
The appeal court also ordered the woman to pay $2,500 in court costs to her husband and another $2,500 to the Nova Scotia Health Authority and a nurse practitioner named in the suit.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 2, 2020.