Archive for the ‘Law and Medicine’ Category

Rasouli v Sunnybrook Health Services Centre: End of Life matters reach the Supreme Court of Canada

Thursday, January 19th, 2012

PDF version: Rasouli v Sunnybrook Health Services Centre: End of Life matters reach the Supreme Court of Canada

Cases Considered: Rasouli v Sunnybrook Health Services Centre, 2011 ONCA 482

This case involves the issue of consent under Ontario’s Health Care Consent Act, 1996, SO, 1996 c 2, Schedule “A” (the “Act”). While no similar law exists in Alberta, the case, through its discussion of the conflict between doctors’ ability to determine treatment, and the patient’s ability to refuse, raises issues that extend beyond the legislative boundaries of Ontario.

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Assisted human reproduction in Canada: it’s a gnarly world out there

Sunday, March 29th, 2009

Considered: Assisted Human Reproduction Act, S.C. 2004, c.2.

PDF Version: Assisted human reproduction in Canada: it’s a gnarly world out there

When 60-year-old Ranjit Hayer of Calgary gave birth via caesarean section to twin boys at Calgary’s Foothills Hospital in early February of 2009, the news spread quickly around the world. She became one of a small but growing number of women who, subsequent to having undergone assisted human reproductive treatments, successfully give birth at ages late in the menopausal cycle, or in a handful of even more extreme examples, after menopause has ended. Indeed, in what is probably the most extreme example of a successful post-menopausal pregnancy to date, a 70-year-old woman in India is reported to have given birth in July of 2008 to twins (see here).

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