80 medically assisted deaths in Northern Health since its federal legalization

The government of Canada released its fourth and final interim report after the federal legalization of Medical Assistance in Dying (MAID) in June of 2016.

Since the June 17th legalization date, there have been 5084 medically assisted deaths completed in the country.

For the Northern Region, Kirsten Thomson, MAID Care Coordinator for Northern Health, spoke to MyPGNow.  

“We completed a total of 46 in 2018 and to date we have completed 80 since the law was passed,” she said.   

The requirement to be able to access MAID, set by the legislation, is that you have a grievous and irremediable condition, a state that is permanent and not going to get better.

“By far the majority is a cancer diagnosis and that’s what we’ve seen in 75% of cases.”

That statistic was consistent with that of the country’s. The report said cancer-related illness is the most frequently cited underlying conditions associated with those receiving MAID.

In Canada, the proportion of men versus women receiving MAID is still nearly equally divided with only slightly more men (51%) being recipients of MAID than women (49%).

Thomson said the way they’ve been able to provide the service has been very successful in the north.

“We have practitioners that have been able to provide the service in most of our communities, we’ve certainly never had patients have to travel to access it. I think we’ve been able to meet what patients are looking for.”

Thomson added, “I think this is an important service that patients can be able to access to make their own choices when they reach their end of life decisions and I think that this is a legally available option and it’s important that we do it well.”