2023-10-26 15:12:41
(Quebec) The use of medical assistance in dying continues to increase in Quebec, and considerably. No fewer than 5,211 people received it between 1is April 2022 and March 31, a jump of 42% in one year. The Minister for Health and Seniors, Sonia Bélanger, wonders about “this phenomenon which is important”.
“We know that in Quebec there is a great openness regarding this. However, I want to understand the reasons which ensure that in Quebec, there are more requests, more medical aid in dying which is given,” she affirmed during a press scrum at exiting the Blue Room. She plans to commission a research team to look into the situation and obtain a “detailed” scientific opinion.
“I am not worried”, and “we should not look at the statistics as good or bad news”, she clarified. “I want to understand, as minister, why in Quebec we have this phenomenon and this great openness. […] I remind you that we were still one of the first countries (sic) to adopt a law on end-of-life care. It’s important that we do things correctly. »
PHOTO EDOUARD PLANTE-FRÉCHETTE, LA PRESSE ARCHIVES
Sonia Bélanger
According to the annual report of the End-of-Life Care Commission that the minister tabled in the National Assembly on Thursday, the majority of the 5,211 people who received medical assistance in dying were aged 70 and over (72%), suffering from cancer (63%), had a survival prognosis of one year or less (82%) and presented both irremediable physical and psychological suffering (97%).
They received medical assistance in dying in a hospital center (55%), at home (30%), in a CHSLD (8%) or in a palliative care home (5%).
Nearly two-thirds of requests made to receive medical assistance in dying (MAID) were administered (68%).
Some 1,663 doctors participated in the AMM, an increase of 15%.
The expansion of access to medical aid adopted this year will further increase the statistics in the coming years, the Commission predicts.
“The 42% increase in the number of MAs administered […] deserves attention and attempts to analyze the possible underlying reasons so that MAID continues to be administered in accordance with the law, which the Commission was able to verify as shown by the very low number of “AMM deemed non-compliant” (0.5%).
The minister noted that 16 people received MAID even though they did not meet all of the criteria provided for in the law. “Faced with this situation, I expect the College of Physicians to make the necessary interventions and follow-ups with the doctors concerned,” she said.
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