Nearly 2,000 people with incurable diseases were helped to die by a doctor in the first year since Canada legalized medically-assisted suicide, according to a report published Friday. From the time Ottawa passed the legislation in June 2016 to June 30, 2017, 1982 people ended their lives in this way, according to Health Canada. Most had cancer, the agency said. Extrapolating from the data collected for the first half of 2017, the number of assisted deaths was expected to rise but remained at less than two percent of all deaths nationwide this year — “consistent with international experience,” it said a statement.
