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Assisted dying capital?

Medically assisted deaths exceed the national average by five times on Vancouver Island.

More than 500 have chosen such an end during the first two years the option has been legal, an Island Health review reveals. The majority of those deaths are happening at home.

Dr. David Robertson says B.C. has been at the forefront of the assisted dying, and there aren’t enough doctors who offer the service to meet the demand.

“People on the Island, many of them, move here to retire, and it seems sensible to us to think that someone who is willing to make that sort of decision about their life might also want degreeable authority over the manner of their dying,” said Robertson.

“People were a little bit reluctant at first, little bit unsure of what this would look like,” adds Dr. Stephanie Green, a program assessor and provider.

“I’d like to see a bit of normalization around this as an end of life option."

– with files from CTV Vancouver Island



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