Our story begins with a tragedy we wouldn't wish on any family. Our son passed away in a hospital ICU after being in a medically induced coma for 2 weeks.  His girlfriend accompanied him to the hospital initially but never called any family. We were searching for him after not hearing from him for a few days but got no response to messages even though they were being read, but we didn't know until later that his girlfriend was actually reading them and changed his hospital status to confidential so no one could find him.

He did not have time, nor was he asked,  to select a substitute decision maker and decisions about his care were made by his girlfriend ONLY because she falsely claimed to the hospital to be his wife and indicated that his family had disowned him. He died alone in the hospital without his family (adoptive and biological), his friends and others who cared about him. 

Our lawful role as his next of kin was ignored and negated by her lies and we were not informed of the tragic event until over two weeks later when a funeral home alerted us to the fraudulent claims and multiple attempts by his girlfriend to cremate our son and have it all paid for by a government subsidy.

We believe this could have been avoided if hospitals and medical professionals were legally required to verify and document the status of substitute decision-makers rather than just taking someone's "word".  This could easily happen to you or anyone you care for if any person convincingly lies to the hospital about who they are!

Just think about this injustice: to get a library card anyone needs two pieces of ID but someone without any proof at a hospital can make life-and-death decisions for another person.

It may be shocking but the doctors are actually following the current law, so a change MUST be made.

Such a law would protect the rights of patients and their families and prevent traumatizing situations like ours from happening again. The ethical guidelines from the Canadian Medical Association implicitly support this, stating that physicians should seek informed consent from the patient or a legally authorized surrogate. However, they do not specifically prescribe that a verification process should be in place.

There are no accurate statistics on the number of cases like ours, however, requiring documentation would add a safety layer that currently is missing in our healthcare system, and protect families from enduring the pain we experienced.

We believe that hospitals and medical professionals should be mandated to verify and document the identity and legal status of substitute decision-makers. The trauma our family experienced, and continues to grapple with, should not be repeated, and we believe this law will help prevent wrongful decision-making in healthcare settings. For our son, for your family, for all future patients and their loved ones, we ask that you support this petition.

We know at times medical professionals need to make quick decisions in emergencies and this is not meant to limit that function but this is a process for the verification and documentation of critical information that would only act to substantiate decisions and place accountability.

Protect the people you care about, close this loophole in the system and bring justice for our son before it happens again.