Quebecers no longer seeing doctor-assisted deaths as exceptional, says oversight body
CTV
As the frequency of medical aid in dying continues to rise in Quebec, the head of the independent body that monitors the practice in the province says he worries doctor-assisted deaths are no longer being seen as a last resort.
As the frequency of medical aid in dying continues to rise in Quebec, the head of the independent body that monitors the practice in the province says he worries doctor-assisted deaths are no longer being seen as a last resort.
Quebecers have stopped appreciating MAID as an exceptional procedure for people with incurable illnesses whose suffering is unbearable, Dr. Michel Bureau said in a recent interview.
"We're now no longer dealing with an exceptional treatment, but a treatment that is very frequent," said Bureau, head of Commission sur les soins de fin de vie, which reports to the legislature.
Quebec is on track to finish the year with seven per cent of all deaths recorded as doctor-assisted, Bureau said.
"That's more than anywhere else in the world: 4.5 times more than Switzerland, three times more than Belgium, more than the Netherlands. It's two times more than Ontario."
Earlier this month, Bureau's commission sent a memo to doctors reminding them that only patients who have a serious and incurable disease, who are suffering and who have experienced irreversible decline in their condition can receive MAID.
The memo reminded doctors that the procedure must be independently approved by two physicians, and that doctors shouldn't "shop" for a favourable second opinion.
