Ovarian cancer patient says Canada offered medical assistance in dying before oncology care

Kristin Logan and Donovan James say they moved to Canada aiming for the financial and medical benefits of publicly funded health care — but say they encountered a “dystopian” system that offered medical assistance in dying before cancer treatment, prompting them to return to the United States.

“Canada is slowly sliding into a completely dystopian situation. The way they’ve expanded the medically assisted dying system is frightening. It was never supposed to be used this way, to be offered so easily and so immediately when someone gets sick. I think it’s wrong,” James told Fox News Digital.

“It was the most heartbreaking experience of being sentenced to die. And if I wanted to live, I had to take charge of my life and leave the country. It’s pretty dystopian to think about it now, to get information about ways I can end my life and what the end of my life will look like before I even get an oncology appointment,” Logan continued.

SON SOUNDS ALARM AFTER MEDICAL ASSISTANCE FOR YOUR FATHER’S DEATH IN CANADA: MUCH OVERWHELMED

Kristin Logan and Donovan James say they moved to Canada hoping to benefit from its publicly funded health care system, but returned to the United States after encountering what they described as a “dystopian” system that offered medical assistance in dying before cancer treatment. (Kristin Logan and Donovan James)

Logan said she was first diagnosed in September 2023 and left Canada later that month to receive initial treatment. She then had a bowel obstruction in March 2024. She had to leave the country again, then returned in April 2024 before the cancer returned in December 2024.

The couple decided to leave Canada in January 2025 and officially returned to the United States in May of the same year.

MAID – Canada’s medical assistance in dying program – is described by Health Canada as “a health service that allows eligible people to receive assistance from a physician to end their lives.”

According to Kristin and Donovan, MAID was the best initial solution Canada offered her after her diagnosis. The Atlantic reported that MAID is now responsible for about one in 20 deaths in Canada, “surpassing countries where medical assistance in dying has been legal for much longer,” with some fearing the program has become too broad.

“They should be focused on treating people and helping them live, but instead they’ve extended the system as a kind offer because they assume you’re going to die,” he continued.

GRANDDAUGHTER SAYS GRANDMOTHER REJECTED WOMAN BEFORE DEATH PROCEDURE, ‘I DON’T WANT THE DEATH SHOT’

Donovan James and his wife, Kristin Logan, during cancer treatment at a hospital. (Kristin Logan and Donovan James)

James, a Canadian citizen living in the United States on a green card, is the husband of Kristin Logan, a U.S. Air Force veteran with stage four ovarian cancer.

They moved to Canada to anticipate possible financial difficulties in the event of a future medical crisis to avoid “one day going bankrupt” – an assumption that turned into reality after Kristin’s three separate trips to America in a desperate fight for her life due to high wait times and lack of available resources in the Canadian healthcare system.

Logan faced several emergencies and trips to the hospital during her time in Canada when a second bowel obstruction pushed her and her family’s fight or flight to the limit to come up with a plan to save her life.

CANCER TREATMENT DELAYS SURGAIN THROUGH US AS DOCTOR WARNS SYSTEM ‘NEEDS REPAIR IMMEDIATELY’

Kristin Logan, a U.S. Air Force veteran, was diagnosed with stage four ovarian cancer while living with her husband and child in Canada. (Kristin Logan and Donovan James)

James said Canadian medical providers told the family there were “no plans to operate on her,” that a hospital helicopter was not available for a transfer to Vancouver and that a doctor advised Logan to “leave the country” if she could afford it. The family eventually traveled to the United States for treatment.

“Kristin’s condition was deteriorating very quickly… Ultimately we had to pull the plug and take her off the machines at the hospital and risk everything to put her in the car, drive all the way across Vancouver Island, go across the ocean directly on a ferry, continue across the border to Seattle to have immediate emergency surgery,” James said.

“The surgeon said if she had waited another day she would have become septic and died in Canada,” he continued.

MEDICARE FOR ALL THE COMPROMISES THAT SOCIALISTS DON’T TALK ABOUT, ACCORDING TO EXPERTS

The Kristin ferry was emergency evacuated on the left, with an image of her in a wheelchair about to board on the right. (Kristin Logan and Donovan James)

“(It) was devastating and shocking. I was only 43 years old when I received this diagnosis…It made me very angry to know that I had been pursuing this illness for nine months and had been blocked at almost every turn by the healthcare system in Canada,” Logan continued.

“Americans don’t get enough Canadian news to know how much health care in Canada has declined over the last two (of) decades. This problem has always existed, but now it’s much worse and dystopian with this MAID program they introduced – and it was never supposed to be used this way,” James said.

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British Columbia announced an expansion of services for women with gynecological cancer. According to the Fraser Institute’s 2025 report, the median wait time in gynecology was 25 weeks from GP referral to specialist consultation, followed by 15.6 weeks from specialist consultation to treatment.

Health Canada, the federal department responsible for the MAID program in Canada, did not immediately respond to Fox Digital’s request for comment.