Back to Misconceptions About Opioids
Correct! This is a myth. Opioids rarely cause death.
By refusing opioids, patients and family members may think that they can forestall death; however, because pain is both psychologically and physically destructive, unrelieved pain may actually shorten survival time.
This principle of double effect has been used to justify the use of opioids to reduce pain and other forms of distress experienced by dying patients, but recent studies suggest that appropriately titrated opioids do not hasten death, and so this ethical "default" is probably not necessary for the vast majority of cases. Learn more about the principle of double effect from the Medical College of Wisconsin.