More than 744 doctor assisted deaths in Canada since law passed

Medical Celia Hoffman
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More than 744 terminally ill people chose to end their lives with the doctor’s help across Canada in 2016 and more are expected to follow as the procedure became legal.

A CTV News survey across the country’s provincial and territorial health ministries managed to gather a complete picture of the procedure. It seems, on average, that two Canadians per day had chosen to be euthanized between June 17 and December 16.

The procedure, called medical assistance in dying, is legal in Canada after the pass of the C-14 Bill by the government, which permits people in terminal stages of illness whose death is “reasonably foreseeable” to have the option of dying with the help of a doctor.

As people seem to get used to the idea of the procedure numbers of potential people that will follow this course is rising.

“I know that it will increase. I expect that we’ll get to the point of the Netherlands and Belgium because their laws are similar to ours, and that would mean about 5 percent of all deaths,” stated Dr. Ellen Wiebe, a Vancouver doctor who has assisted 40 patients this year.

Ontario in the leader in doctor-assisted deaths since it became legal with 180 such cases. The survey also shows that the patients who opted for this procedure are mostly cancer patients or people suffering from multiple sclerosis or amyotrophic lateral sclerosis.

Canada is one of the several countries across the world that has adopted legislation regarding doctor-assisted suicide, including Switzerland, Germany, and Japan.