Quebecers are making more use of medical assistance in dying
(Quebec) Quebecers make the most use of medical assistance in dying (MAID), according to the five-year report of the Commission on End-of-Life Care tabled Tuesday in the National Assembly.
The 2018-2023 Report on the State of End-of-Life Care in Quebec compares practices in nine jurisdictions, such as the Netherlands, Belgium and a few American states.
He says Quebec's MAID rate is the highest with 6.2% of deaths and 557 MAID per million population in 2022.
In comparison, the proportion of euthanasia deaths and the number of euthanasia deaths per million population were 5.4% and 509 in the Netherlands, 3.1% and 293 in Belgium, and 4.1% and 335 in Canada as a whole (including Quebec).
In jurisdictions where only assisted suicide is permitted, rates are lower: 87 assisted suicide cases per million population in Oregon, 22 in California, 57 in Washington State and 42 in Colorado.
In Switzerland, the number of assisted and accompanied suicides is 208 per million population.
The rate of MAID is high in Quebec and we do not know the cause. A comparison of the various jurisdictions does not explain the significant growth in the number of MAIDs in Quebec.
Excerpt from the report of the Commission on End-of-Life Care
The report notes that Belgium and the Netherlands have experienced very slow growth in the number of euthanasia and assisted suicides following the adoption of their laws, while the growth of MAID in Quebec is described as "exponential."
"Sociological, cultural studies [...] will be able to try to answer this complex question," it concludes.
Quebec's law on end-of-life care was passed in 2014 and expanded in 2023 to allow for advance requests. The proportion of MAID deaths decreased from 1.9% in 2018-2019 to 6.7% in 2022-2023.
More specifically, 14,417 people received MAIDbetween April 1, 2018 and March 31, 2023. The majority of them were aged 60 and over and had irremediable physical and psychological suffering.
The 2018-2023 Report on the State of End-of-Life Care in Quebec compares practices in nine jurisdictions, such as the Netherlands, Belgium and a few American states.
He says Quebec's MAID rate is the highest with 6.2% of deaths and 557 MAID per million population in 2022.
In comparison, the proportion of euthanasia deaths and the number of euthanasia deaths per million population were 5.4% and 509 in the Netherlands, 3.1% and 293 in Belgium, and 4.1% and 335 in Canada as a whole (including Quebec).
In jurisdictions where only assisted suicide is permitted, rates are lower: 87 assisted suicide cases per million population in Oregon, 22 in California, 57 in Washington State and 42 in Colorado.
In Switzerland, the number of assisted and accompanied suicides is 208 per million population.
The rate of MAID is high in Quebec and we do not know the cause. A comparison of the various jurisdictions does not explain the significant growth in the number of MAIDs in Quebec.
Excerpt from the report of the Commission on End-of-Life Care
The report notes that Belgium and the Netherlands have experienced very slow growth in the number of euthanasia and assisted suicides following the adoption of their laws, while the growth of MAID in Quebec is described as "exponential."
"Sociological, cultural studies [...] will be able to try to answer this complex question," it concludes.
Quebec's law on end-of-life care was passed in 2014 and expanded in 2023 to allow for advance requests. The proportion of MAID deaths decreased from 1.9% in 2018-2019 to 6.7% in 2022-2023.
More specifically, 14,417 people received MAIDbetween April 1, 2018 and March 31, 2023. The majority of them were aged 60 and over and had irremediable physical and psychological suffering.
