It is difficult to imagine a more challenging, complex (and controversial) issue in medicine than Medical Assistance in Dying (MAiD)…and also one so clearly in need of thoughtful and measured policy development as issues rapidly evolve. Never one to shy away from necessary conversations, however contentious, Dr. Gaind has become a nationally and internationally recognized leader in bringing a considered, scholarly approach to the evolving MAiD framework.
Canada’s policies and legislation had to rapidly change following the February 2015 Supreme Court ruling in Carter v. Canada that deemed a blanket ban on assisted dying violated the Charter of Rights and Freedoms. While the Court ruling indicated consideration of physician assisted death (PAD) would need to account for psychological suffering in addition to physical suffering, there had been no consideration or submission of how issues specific to mental illness/mental health would need to be considered in developing Canada’s physician assisted death framework. As President of the Canadian Psychiatric Association 2015-16, Dr. Gaind spearheaded submissions and testimony that initiated key national policy discussions related to mental illness/mental health issues and implications that needed to be considered in any MAiD framework.
Dr. Gaind has spoken nationally and internationally on these issues, and in 2017 he was appointed to the Council of Canadian Academies Expert Panel on Medical Assistance in Dying Where a Mental Disorder Is the Sole Underlying Medical Condition.
In 2020, with MAiD policies in flux following the 2019 Quebec Truchon ruling and the tabling of Bill C-7 in March, Dr. Gaind spearheaded pulling together the Expert Advisory Group (EAG) on MAiD, consisting of international experts and those with lived experience, to help provide evidence-based guidance for policy development (click here to go to EAG website, www.eagmaid.org). Dr. Gaind has continued to provide key leadership and evidence-based expertise in this challenging area, with a focus on ensuring impacts of expanding MAiD policies on the most marginalized and vulnerable patients are considered.
“Thank you for your excellent piece Dr. Gaind. It takes a great deal of courage to stand against the position of your professional organization but you do so with sincerity and integrity.”
“Dr. Gaind, I join those above and thank you for your courage and the dedication to your patients over that of peer pressure.”
“Thank you to Dr. K. Sonu Gaind for the most comprehensive and understandable rationale for exercising caution with legislation to allow medically assisted dying. As a policy maker, I appreciate the clarity of thought in his column and hope it will be appreciated by all Canadians as we embark on a profound change in our approach to this sensitive issue.”
![Globe and Mail National Edition Editorial on Mental Illness and Medically Assisted Dying, May 30, 2016 [click to read]](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5387fe39e4b095eb4a02b4ac/1549034781854-WAB15FEJUQS9FLVZZD4M/GandM+-+MAID+op-ed.jpg)
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