ABSTRACT
At the time of writing this chapter, the Supreme Court of Canada was considering a case with two central questions: When is life unworthy of living? Who should determine if someone's life is worthy or unworthy of living? In this case, a 60-year-old man had been kept alive by artificial means for 13 months. His physicians assessed that he had no chance of regaining consciousness, described his condition as one of permanent vegetative state, and advocated removing life supports. If he were to be kept alive by artificial means, they believed, he might well survive for a considerable amount of time but without consciousness and at great cost to the healthcare system. Complicating this issue was the fact that his condition had resulted from bacterial meningitis that caused severe brain damage, following surgery for a benign brain tumour in the hospital.
