Vancouver Island reports B.C.’s highest assisted death rate

‘This is a much more rapid rise than happened in the Netherlands,’ says Island Health doctor

CBC News

Deborah Wilson

Six months after medically assisted death became legal in Canada it is proving particularly popular on Vancouver Island.

From June 17, 2016 when Bill C-14 was enacted to Jan.10 2017, 188 medically assisted deaths were reported to the BC Coroners Service.

Of that number, 77 were residents of Vancouver Island, which has a population of about 760,000.

It represents two per cent of all deaths on the Island during that time, according to Dr. David Robertson, the executive lead on medical aid in dying for Island Health. . . [Full text]