The grieving parents of a 26-year-old man are speaking out against Canada’s medical assistance in dying (MAID) laws, arguing the system failed to protect their “vulnerable” son from being euthanized despite a history of mental illness.
Kiano Vafaeian was euthanized on December 30, 2025, in British Columbia. His family says he was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes at age 4 and began struggling with mental health after a car accident at age 17.
His mother, Margaret Marsilla of Ontario, said his depression was often seasonal, but he became “obsessed” with MAID after losing sight in one eye in 2022.
“He kept pointing out how it could be approved,” Marsilla told Fox News Digital. “We never thought there was a chance that any doctor would at that time approve a 22 or 23-year-old for MAI because of diabetes or blindness.”
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MAID was legalized in Canada in June 2016. The law allows patients with “severe and incurable” medical conditions to request a lethal drug, either by a doctor or self-administered, to end their life.
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In 2022, after a Toronto doctor initially approved Vafaeian’s request, the family launched a public pressure campaign on social media to voice their opposition. The cry caused the doctor to withdraw his approval. While Vafaeian was initially upset, his family said he showed signs of improvement the following year, even moving in with them in 2024.
“He tried his best when he was in one of those good moments of life,” Marsilla said. “Then winter started to come, fall, he started to change and then everything we were working on in the spring and summer disappeared … he started talking about MAID again.”
The family said Vafaeian was turned down by several doctors in Ontario before seeking out Dr. Ellen Wiebe, a prominent health care provider in British Columbia. Marsilla believes Wiebe “coached” her son on what to say to meet the criteria for “Track 2” patients — those whose natural deaths are not reasonably imminent.
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“We think she was training him … on how to damage his body and what she can approve of and what she can get away with approving,” Marsilla said. “Because if she had spoken in 2024 and been a good candidate for MAID approval, she would have done it right away, but she didn’t.”
Vafaeian’s parents say they were not notified of the approval and only learned of his death days after it occurred. They noted that his medical records did not prove the “severe peripheral neuropathy” listed on his death certificate as a qualifying factor.
“This whole process came as a shock to us,” said Joseph Caprara, Vafaeian’s stepfather.
In 2021, MAI eligibility was expanded to include applicants with “serious and incurable conditions” whose deaths are not reasonably foreseeable. The family is now advocating for the repeal of this “Track 2” provision and the passage of Bill C-218, a legislative effort to restrict MAID for patients whose underlying problem is solely mental illness.
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“Realistically, the safeguards for patients would be to reach out to their family members, giving them a lot of different treatment options,” Marsilla said. Instead, she argues that the current system allows doctors to approve and euthanize patients within 90 days on Track 2.
“How is it safe for patients?” she asked.
Marsilla shared her son’s story on social media, describing the situation as “disgusting on all levels.”
On Facebook, she wrote: “No parent should have to bury their child because a system – and a doctor – chose death over care, help or love.”
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Caprara said their family hopes sharing their story will expose the risks these laws pose to the “vulnerable and disabled” and give states and other countries pause before implementing similar legislation.
“We don’t want to see another family member suffer or any country introduce legislation to kill disabled or vulnerable people without adequate treatment plans that could save their lives,” he said.
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In a statement to Fox News Digital, Dr. Wiebe said, “Like my colleagues, every patient I approve for Track 2 is in unbearable suffering from a serious and incurable medical condition (not psychiatric) with an advanced state of diminished capacity, and accepts that MAID be fully informed about treatments to reduce suffering.”
New York Gov. Kathy Hochul signed an assisted-suicide bill into law Monday, making New York the 13th state, plus the District of Columbia, to legalize allowing doctors to help terminally ill adults kill themselves. The law will take effect in six months.
Source of the original article: Grieving parents demand changes after 26-year-old son euthanized under controversial law