Category: Living at Risk

Back to Case Studies

  • 95. Case: MAiD and Depressive Disorder

    An assumption for the purposes of the case – these circumstances are happening in the perhaps not-too-distant future after the Supreme Court of Canada has struck down Bill C-14’s ‘reasonably foreseeable death’ criterion. Sally York is a 54 year-old, single, unemployed woman who has a longstanding history of treatment-resistant major depressive disorder. Her mother experienced…

    View Case Study: 95. Case: MAiD and Depressive Disorder

  • 91. Case: Franklin Isn’t Safe at Home

    Franklin Pictou is a 68 year old with limited mobility receiving post-surgical follow up care in the home. He wishes to remain in his dwelling, which is not especially clean and poses hazards to him (uneven stairs, loose carpets, wood stove for heat, and mould) and to health care providers (bed bugs). He chooses to…

    View Case Study: 91. Case: Franklin Isn’t Safe at Home

  • 89. Case: Who Has a Right to Know?

    Kevin is a14-year-old admitted to hospital with persistent headache, muscle spasms, tremors, significant motor impairment, fever, cough and symptoms of liver damage. A diagnosis of lipoid pneumonia has been made and his clinicians are very suspicious that he has been inhaling nitrite compounds. Eventually they are able to confirm this when one of the team…

    View Case Study: 89. Case: Who Has a Right to Know?

  • 85. Case: Adam’s Story

    Adam Snowdon, a 16 year-old Sydney boy, was diagnosed with ALS (Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis) 18 months ago.  The disease has progressed rapidly over the past three months and over this period Adam has quickly begun losing the ability to use his right arm to the point now where it is no longer effectively functional.  He…

    View Case Study: 85. Case: Adam’s Story

  • 74. Case: Compulsive Hoarding – Mary

    Mary is a 72 year old woman who has been a compulsive hoarder for the last 10 years.  She can only move from room to room through pathways. She would like to move closer to her daughter and grandchildren, but she feels overwhelmed by the amount of stuff she has in her house. Despite the…

    View Case Study: 74. Case: Compulsive Hoarding – Mary

  • 65. Case: Conflict in an Ethics Consultation

    The next three cases are from our Advanced Clinical Consultation Workshop facilitated by Paul Hutchinson, Imagined Spaces. These cases were submitted to us from Paul. I find it is often team conflict that can lead to an ethics consult and this will find its way into the consultation space. This can present in a couple…

    View Case Study: 65. Case: Conflict in an Ethics Consultation

  • 64. Case: Implementing an Anti-Obesity Strategy

    The local health district is in the final stages of adopting a comprehensive organizational anti-obesity policy. Its development was led by a working group of diverse stakeholders from across the district and included an extensive consultation process. One aspect of the policy that generated a lot of discussion and debate at the working group was the suggestion…

    View Case Study: 64. Case: Implementing an Anti-Obesity Strategy

  • 58. Case: Harm Reduction

    Medical Officers of Health from British Colombia, Nova Scotia, and Saskatchewan have written to advocate for emphasizing harm reduction in the approach to cannabis and other illegal drugs (including possible legalization). “Evidence-based drug treatment programs are cost effective, and significant benefits should be derived, at both individual and societal levels, through an increase in scale.…

    View Case Study: 58. Case: Harm Reduction

  • 54. Case: Professional Role

    While doing a weekday home visit to an elderly patient, a VON nurse in a small community finds the patient’s son at home. The patient has mentioned that her son teaches at the local elementary school, but he has never been present during any of the nurse’s previous visits to the house. On a weekday…

    View Case Study: 54. Case: Professional Role

  • 21. Case: Balancing Concerns

    “Where’s the door to my bathroom? Can’t a man get some privacy?” “Uh oh, that’s Elias again. We’d better make sure he’s alright.” “How many times are we going to have to go through this with him? Maybe we should just put the bathroom door on again.” “The only problem is that on his ‘bad’…

    View Case Study: 21. Case: Balancing Concerns

Sign Up For Our Newsletter

NSHEN logo

© © 2026 Nova Scotia Health Ethics Network.
All Rights Reserved.

[Privacy Policy]