First death by voluntary euthanasia in Quebec is confirmed

A terminally ill patient’s life has been ended by a physician’s injection in a Quebec City hospital, the first case of legal voluntary euthanasia ever carried out by a doctor in North America. Quebec legalised voluntary euthanasia in December.1

The case was confirmed to CBC News by a spokeswoman for the Quebec City regional health authority, who said that a second patient’s request is being reviewed. No details about either case will be released.

Georges L’Espérance, a physician and president of the Quebec Association for the Right to Die with Dignity, told the National Post that he had been informed of two other cases of euthanasia this month, both in the Montreal area.

He said that …