By Independent News Roundup
A Canadian woman is preparing to be euthanized by the government under the state-sanctioned “assisted suicide” program after years of being denied timely medical treatment for a rare but treatable condition.
The story is yet another grim example of how Canada’s collapsing socialized healthcare system is increasingly steering suffering citizens toward death instead of care.
Jolene Van Alstine suffers from normocalcemic primary hyperparathyroidism (nPHPT), a disorder that causes vomiting, nausea, debilitating fatigue, and bone pain.
Yet despite the condition being operable, Van Alstine says she cannot get the surgery she needs in Saskatchewan because no surgeon in the province performs the procedure.
However, after years of waiting for surgery, the government has offered Van Alstine swift death by lethal injection.
Van Alstine says she has waited years for surgery, but now feels she has no other choice but to give up after losing hope of ever receiving the treatment she needs.
Her life has shrunk to near total isolation.
“My friends have stopped visiting me,” she said.
She describes “living alone, lying on the couch for eight years, sick and curled up in a ball, pushing for the day to end.”
“I go to bed at six at night because I can’t stand to be awake anymore,” she told CBC.
With nowhere else to turn and no functioning medical system to help her, Van Alstine applied for Canada’s Medical Assistance in Dying (MAiD).
She was quickly approved for the procedure and is due to be euthanized on January 7, 2026.
Van Alstine revealed that she only had to wait three months to be approved for euthanasia.
A Broken System Steers Patients Toward Death
Saskatchewan Health Minister Jeremy Cockrill met with Van Alstine last month, but the details remain confidential.
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