A Canadian widower is sounding the alarm over what he calls a shocking and dangerous bias in the medical system toward the promotion of euthanasia for sick and elderly patients.

Richard Leskun, 75, made the charge after he said medical staff at the Abbotsford hospital “pressured” and “badgered” him to allow his wife of 50 years, Marilynn, to be euthanised.

Leskun remained at his wife Marilynn’s side nearly 24 hours a day after she was admitted to Abbotsford Regional Hospital, the result of a fall from her wheelchair.

Staff asked him five times over eight days whether they could place a Do-Not-Resuscitate (DNR) designation on his wife.

As his wife’s condition continued to deteriorate, a ‘hospitalist’ — a specialist physician assigned to the case — asked Leskun if he would agree to medical staff euthanising Marilynn.

Eventually, as his wife’s condition worsened further, a nurse informed him that a doctor had already given a DNR order without his consent.