Police investigation, public outcry following B.C. woman's medically assisted death

An Abbotsford grandmother whose medically-assisted death was carried out while she suffered from complex medical and mental health issues has triggered a rare police investigation and become a rallying cry for advocates and analysts who fear vulnerable Canadians are seeing death as the only option.

An Abbotsford grandmother whose medically-assisted death was carried out while she suffered from complex medical and mental health issues has triggered a rare police investigation and become a rallying cry for advocates and analysts who fear vulnerable Canadians are seeing death as the only option.

The reaction comes in the wake of a CTV News investigation into the circumstances of Donna Duncan’s death last fall. Medical professionals from Fraser Health facilitated Duncan’s death despite the objections of the woman’s family physician and her daughters’ insistence that she wasn’t herself after a head injury in February of 2020.

Christie and Alicia Duncan say their mother went from a vivacious, energetic grandmother – who had retired from her psychiatric nursing position but was still working part-time – to an increasingly erratic and distraught woman who complained of intense sensitivity to light and touch, struggling to eat and ultimately weighing just 82 pounds.

"We believe she was actually starving herself," said Alicia, who described excellent care from the family’s long-time doctor, as well as mental health medications her mother refused to take for more than a few days.

“She wouldn't follow through with any of his recommended treatments. He was frustrated."

Medical records the family provided to CTV News outline a post-concussion syndrome diagnosis and mental health concerns, but no conclusive diagnosis for the physical issues. Duncan had been on a wait-list for a complex chronic disease clinic when she shocked her daughters by revealing she had applied to Fraser Health, been assessed, then approved for Medical Assistance in Dying (MAID) in the span of a few days.

“It’s unacceptable – it took a year to get treatment but it could only take four days to die," said Christie. “I just think she didn't want to be a burden. She'd been through the system (as a nurse). She knew what it would take to get better and she didn't have that optimism."