This is the big one. It’s the part people tend to think of when they ask, “Do I qualify for MAiD?”

The law says a person must have a grievous and irremediable medical condition. Those are legal words, not medical ones — and they sound more intimidating than they actually are. “Grievous” just means serious. “Irremediable” means incurable, as in there are no medical interventions that can be expected to provide enduring improvement or restore acceptable levels of function.

Interestingly, physical symptoms don’t even rank among the top three reasons people request MAiD. The leading concern is the “loss of ability to engage in meaningful activities,” followed by the “loss of ability to perform activities of daily living” (such as bathing, eating, toileting, and mobility). The third most cited reason is a “loss of dignity,” with “inadequate control of pain” coming in a distant fourth.