I started the petition for Madi’s Law almost one year ago. It’s been emotionally hard and discouraging at how long it can take to get a basic common sense waiver passed in Canada. My sense it that Psychotropic drugs are far more dangerous than people often realize. Associating a pill to having the power to take a life or cause extreme harm still hasn’t been acknowledged the way it should be. We understand a loaded gun…pills can be just like a loaded gun. 

I had someone say that it wasn’t like the Doctor amputated the wrong leg. No it’s not…it’s actually worse. A patient that had the wrong leg amputated gets to keep their life. A patient that responds negatively to a psychotropic drug may not get to keep theirs. My daughter did not get to keep her life. 

Until Canada acknowledges the power of psychotropic drugs and puts the same type of caregiver procedure in place that already exists for surgeries and many other medical treatments, people will continue to die. Heart surgery, breast implants, child birth and so many medical treatments, automatically need a caregiver. Patients can’t leave the hospital/doctors office alone after many medical procedures. 

Why have we lost this common sense thinking when it come to prescribing psychotropic drugs? Why has it been allowed to continue on for so long? Why is it better to let vulnerable people seeking mental health help die because they didn’t respond positively when trying a new psychotropic drug?  We know it generally takes three or four tries to find the right psychotropic drug for the patients that use them. Why are psychotropic drugs often handed out like candy before any other options like counselling are suggested first? 

I lost my daughter, lots of people have been harmed or lost people too. What is it going to take before we seek preventive measures? It feels like the Canadian government doesn’t care. When will Canada wake up?