New Fact Sheet on Refusing Health Care: What are my Rights?
Early 2015 has been a year of landmark cases, about physician-assisted dying in the Supreme Court of Canada, in addition to the Margot Bentley decision at the BC Court of Appeal.
This fact sheet addresses the law in BC
Most of the information available online is academic and focuses on what this means for legislatures (law-makers), but these decisions have implications for Canadians, and people in British Columbia. Different changes to the law could be made across Canada and in each province.
A new fact sheet produced by Nidus answers questions of more interest to the everyday person living in BC, such as:
- Can I refuse health care? (Yes, there is law in BC saying that if you are 19 years or older and are “capable of informed consent”, you have the right to make your own decisions about care.)
- Can I request help with dying when I am ready? (The short answer is no, but watch for changes.)
- If I am incapable, can someone refuse care on my behalf?
- What are the legal documents that apply?
- Can a doctor refuse to give me life-supporting care? (This can be a confusing area of the law.)
- What is the No CPR (Do Not Resuscitate) form?
- Is there a Registry for my documents? (Yes.)
To read more about the law in BC that governs giving, refusing and withdrawing consent for health care, see the new fact sheet by Nidus directly on their website here, and through the Clicklaw website here along with their other resources.
