B.C. releases guidance for doctors on youth mental health and substance-use care

VANCOUVER — Brock Eurchuk said he felt “completely cut adrift” by British Columbia’s health care system when trying to deal with health troubles of their 16-year-old son, Elliot.

The teenager died from an overdose in 2018.

“Elliot was in care in a hospital for over a month, and the caregivers were completely detached from Elliot — and Rachel and I — in terms of giving us advice and helping us,” Eurchuk said Friday accompanied by the teen’s mother, Dr. Rachel Staples.

“And I think it was out of fear that they were in a legal environment that they could be in trouble for sharing with Rachel and I medical information about Elliot — that Elliot, at 15 and 16, said, ‘I don’t want my parents to have any of this information.'”

The B.C. government said cases such as Eurchuk’s are at the centre of its decision announced Friday to set up guidance on providing involuntary care to those under 19 years old, when they won’t or can’t care for themselves.

Dr. Daniel Vigo, B.C.’s chief scientific adviser for psychiatry, toxic drugs and concurrent disorders, said the guidance directs physicians to immediately connect with an affected youth’s parents as soon as the patient shows up “suffering from a severe disorder that impairs their ability to engage in care.”

In such cases, Vigo said doctors can provide involuntary care with consent of parents under the Mental Health Act, “minimizing the disruption to the child’s life and ensuring a robust followup strategy is in place.”

“We need to intervene to prevent brain damage and death,” Vigo said.

“In exceptionally severe cases, the least restrictive intervention is admitting and treating the child, even if it is against the wishes (of the patient).”

Premier David Eby said the guidance for doctors and parents will not be universally well received, but the changes could significantly reduce brain injuries and deaths of children.

Health officials in B.C. have up until now been told to treat those in their late teens as mature minors and allow them to make their own decisions.

“I have never once believed that letting somebody die in a gutter is protective of their human rights,” Eby said.

“This is not an issue where everyone’s going to agree. But I hope that we can all agree that we need to do our absolute best to provide front-line treatments and supports to kids if it means that they’re not going to have a brain injury and it means they’re not going to die of an overdose.”

The BC Green Party said in a statement that it is “deeply concerned” about the guidance, calling it an “outdated” expansion of youth involuntary care under the Mental Health Act.

The NDP government should be expanding the accessibility of voluntary care instead, the statement said.

“Involuntary treatment is a slippery slope — legally, ethically, and clinically,” said West Vancouver-Sea to Sky legislative member Jeremy Valeriote.

“The risks of harm are significant, and forcing young people into treatment can further erode their trust in the health system.”

Staples said the changes will give families a fighting chance to save their children’s lives, noting that her son had gone to hospital for another health issue before he died and was diagnosed with an opioid-use disorder.

“In the past, of course, we weren’t informed,” she said. “When he had an overdose and he was brought to the hospital, the only way that the physician felt that we could be informed was sitting by Elliot’s bedside as parents, (and) the doctor spoke to Elliot about his opioid use disorder.”

Brock Eurchuk said if Elliot had taken a car out and had a terrible accident, they would have been responsible, yet they were unable to participate in their son’s health care and were given no information even though he was trapped in a very high-risk situation.

“Most of Elliot’s opioid use in the last three years of his life was to maintain normalcy, to avoid detox, and maintain a normal demeanour,” he said. “He would go to school with opioids on board, not high, not dancing around, not detached. He was using those drugs to present in a normal fashion.

“You’re hopeful, you have faith your son is making good decisions,” he said. “We had the means to help Elliot in any fashion, but he thought he was in control of his illness, and he wasn’t.”

“I hope that helps people relate to how their child can fly under the radar and then die with one bad batch of drugs.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Dec. 5, 2025.

Chuck Chiang, The Canadian Press