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Physician-assisted dying remains controversial even where it is legal. In Canada, the process (called “medical assistance in dying” [MAiD]) was legalized across the country in June 2016, despite ongoing concerns that it might wind up masking underlying deficiencies in the healthcare system (such as lack of access to palliative care).
Researchers compared the 2241 Ontario residents who received MAiD in the program's first 29 months with 186,814 residents who died without it during the same time. MAiD recipients were younger (mean age, 74 vs. 77), wealthier, and less likely to be institutionalized before death. Most had cancer (64%) or a neurodegenerative process (12%). Virtually all MAiD recipients reported both physical and psychologic suffe…