A Canadian doctor has been placed under supervision by the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario (CPSO) after an investigation into his Medical Assistance in Dying (MAID) practice found serious breaches of protocol — including assessing a man for MAID outside a Tim Hortons restaurant.
Despite the investigation’s worrisome findings, the doctor has been reportedly allowed to continue his MAID practice throughout the six months that his supervision will last.
Dr. James MacLean is a family physician based in London, Ontario that has come under heavy scrutiny by the CPSO after it received complaints over two MAID-related cases he oversaw in 2024 — leading to a broader probe into his medical practice, finding several other irregularities in the process.
While the names of the patients involved in the complaints have not been publicly disclosed, The Globe and Mail reports that one of the MAID recipients listed in the complaints was 45 year-old Thomas Dillon, a resident of Ontario who suffered from Crohn’s disease. Dr. Maclean and a nurse practitioner deemed Dillon eligible for MAID due to his medical condition — however, an investigation into the man’s case reportedly revealed that the doctor “assessed” Dillon for MAID outside a Tim Hortons in June 2023.
Months later, in January 2024, Dr. MacLean met Dillon at the restaurant again and drove with him to a location where he administered the MAID procedure on the patient. The Globe and Mail described the location as a “holding facility in an industrial unit where cadavers are prepared for transport to funeral homes.”
Relatives of Thomas Dillon affirmed to The Globe that Dillon’s desire for medically-assisted death was the result of mental illness and was not related to his medical condition. They argued that their relative should have not qualified for MAID in the first place due to his persistent suicidal ideation and was not in a capacity to consent to the procedure.
The family detailed that Thomas Dillon had been diagnosed with Crohn’s disease over two decades ago, which thwarted his dreams of becoming a commercial airline pilot. The COVID-19 pandemic and loss of work as a timber framer, the family confided, pushed him a depression and alcohol abuse.
The second complaint reportedly filed against the doctor is equally harrowing. According to Canadian outlets, the investigation found that Dr. MacLean failed to administer one of the three drugs used in MAID procedures, causing a 67 year-old cancer patient to spontaneously resume breathing after being declared dead and after the doctor had already left the man’s home.
MacLean then returned to the cancer patient’s residence and administered the missing drug, a neuromuscular-blocking agent, once again pronouncing the man’s death.
CPSO determined that Dr. MacLean displayed a lack of judgement with patients “in a way that risked looking like coercion” and kept inadequate records of the procedures. The organization reportedly noted that the doctor’s conduct “exposes or is likely to expose patients to harm or injury” in five out of twenty charts reviewed.
The college, however, only imposed a six month suspension period on MacLean and further inspections into his practice and patient records.
Relatives of the 67 year-old cancer patient spoke with The Globe and Mail on Tuesday and identified the man as Bradley Stewart. The man’s three sisters confided that they supported their relative’s decision to undergo medical assisted dying, but stressed that the experience left them with “concerns about oversight.”
One of his sisters, Tracey Townsend, told the outlet that the sanctions against Dr. MacLean “did not go far enough” and that the family is planning to appeal the lenient ruling.
“What happened was traumatic and unacceptable,” Townsend said. “We would like to see policy change. The way MAID is done right now is not safe enough.”