False Claim: “Some person in a uniform” can provide MAiD
This week in MAiD misinformation is dedicated to Tucker Carlson, who made a number of false claims about MAiD in Canada while interviewing a familiar Canadian purveyor of MAiD misinformation and conspiracy theories
At 1:30:10, Carlson states:
“Because all the key decisions in this are left up to the air-quotes doctor, whatever that is. It feels like there’s, like, an amazing amount of discretion for one person in this process. Like, whatever the so-called doctor thinks goes.”
Sheren then pipes in:
“Or a nurse. It can be a nurse or a doctor.”
Carlson replies:
“So some person in a uniform just makes a decision without any oversight at all.”
In Canada, the only “people in uniform” who can assess someone for MAiD or provide MAiD are physicians and nurse practitioners—not registered nurses.
For clarity, a nurse practitioner, or NP, is a registered nurse with advanced education and an expanded scope of practice. NPs can order laboratory tests, imaging, and procedures. They can also prescribe medications, conduct advanced clinical assessments, and diagnose conditions.
Registered nurses cannot assess a person’s eligibility for MAiD, authorize it, or provide it. Their role in MAiD is limited to supporting the process. This may include inserting peripheral IVs, assessing central lines for patency, and supporting the individual and their loved ones before, during, and after the provision.
Registered nurses may also take part in conversations about MAiD, provide education, and act as independent witnesses to a person’s written request for MAiD.
And—although this seems unnecessary to state so plainly—many people who work in health care wear uniforms but cannot assess someone for or provide MAiD.
This claim comes dangerously close to statements we have heard from other opponents of MAiD, in which the apparent goal is to undermine and sow distrust in doctors and the health care system generally. That is an insidious thing to do simply to promote one’s own ideology.