The Impact on Patient Trust of Legalizing Physician Aid in Dying

Abstract

Little empirical evidence exists to support either side of the ongoing debate over whether legalizing physician aid in dying would undermine patient trust. To address this question, a random national sample of adults were asked their level of agreement with a statement that they would trust their doctor less if euthanasia were legal [and] doctors were allowed to help patients die. Almost 60% of subjects disagreed, and only 20% agreed, that legalizing euthanasia would cause them to trust their personal physician less. The remainder were neutral. These attitudes were the same in men and women, but older patients and blacks had somewhat more agreement that euthanasia would lower trust. Still, overall, only a quarter of elderly patients (age 65+) and a third of blacks thought that physician aid in dying would lower trust. Despite the widespread consensus that legalizing physician aid in dying would seriously threaten or undermine trust in physicians, there is very little evidence, either in this study or elsewhere, to support this view.

Keywords: euthanasia, physician-assisted suicide, trust