B.C. leads in assisted death
Vancouver Island records more patients than any region in Canada
Seventy-seven people on Vancouver Island died with medical assistance in 2016, more than any other region in B.C. — and most other provinces.
Some speculate the high number might be the result of demographics and a long history of advocacy for the right to assisted death.
For each assisted death performed, between five and 10 patients are deemed ineligible, Island Health said.
A Victoria Times Colonist sur- vey of provincial coroners, health ministries and health authorities found that B.C. ranked among the highest of medical assistance in dying, with 188 assisted deaths recorded. That was one more than Ontario, where the chief coroner recorded 187 deaths.
P.E.I., with a population of 148,600, recorded no assisted deaths.
Within B.C., the most deaths were recorded in the Vancouver Island Health Authority’s jurisdiction, followed by Vancouver Coastal Health at 58, Fraser Health at 24, Interior Health at 23 and Northern Health at six.
Dr. David Robertson, Island Health’s executive lead on medical assistance in dying, said there seems to be a strong base of supporters for assisted dying, including physicians willing to deliver the procedure.
“They have made the service — medical assistance in dying — probably more available than it might be in other parts of the country,” he said.
Robertson said some support on the Island likely comes in part from the fact that Sue Rodriguez lived in North Saanich.
Rodriguez suffered from amyotrophic lateral sclerosis and wanted the legal right to end her life with the help of a physician. She lost her legal challenge to the Criminal Code’s prohibition on assisted death, but died in 1994 with assistance from an anonymous physician.
“Many of the other high-profile patients who’ve been part of the history of the change of the law come from B.C., too,” Robertson said.
He also noted that there seems to be an older, fairly well-off population on the Island.
“This is just my observation as a citizen, but we have an older population, many of whom have moved here to retire. And these are people used to making decisions that control their lives. And it seems to me not very surprising that they want to make a decision, too, about the end of their lives.”
High demand on the Island doesn’t mean there isn’t also opposition, said Eike-Henner Kluge, a biomedical ethics professor at the University of Victoria whom Rodriguez consulted before pursuing her lawsuit.
“There will always be individuals who say life is sacred and under no circumstances may you artificially end a life,” he said.
Many … patients who’ve been part of the history of the change of the law come from B.C.