California experienced a 6.5% rise in users of its medical aid in dying (MAID) law from 2023 to 2024. However, this rate remains significantly lower than in countries like Canada, where similar laws are more widely accepted. Only 346 of roughly 150,000 California doctors wrote prescriptions for aid-in-dying drugs, underscoring a reluctance within the medical community. Additionally, one-third of prescriptions issued remain unused. Factors contributing to this include a lack of end-of-life discussions between doctors and patients, religious objections from healthcare systems, and a general unawareness of options available to terminally ill patients.
In California, only 346 out of 150,000 licensed doctors wrote prescriptions for aid-in-dying drugs, showing significant hesitation among the medical community regarding MAID.
Despite 1,032 Californians using MAID, Canada, with a similar population, saw over 15,000 assisted deaths, indicating California's low utilization of the law.
Collection
[
|
...
]