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Assisted Dying: The Final Choice

A look at the patients in Canada and California legally choosing assisted dying, including both those undergoing the procedure and those who feel it puts the most vulnerable at risk.

A look at patients in California and Canada who are planning to end their lives by lethal medication, as well as discussion with the doctors who help them.

The programme explores how assisted dying has developed since it was introduced in both jurisdictions in 2016, speaking with campaigners who argue the law puts the vulnerable at risk and with doctors who regard it as dangerous. In Canada, it now accounts for around 1 in 20 of all deaths, whereas in California it is 1 in 300.

In Canada, patients no longer need to be terminally ill to access medical assistance in dying. Most deaths involve a lethal injection by doctors. The law proposed in England and Wales is based, in part, on the California model, where adults must be expected to die within six months, be approved by two doctors, and self-administer, usually by swallowing, the lethal dose.

In California, the documentary follows 80-year-old Wayne and is present, with his family, when he has an assisted death. There's also another terminally ill patient who has decided she wants death to come naturally.

10 months left to watch

36 minutes

Last on

Mon 12 May 2025 23:00

Broadcast

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