On the eve of the National Assembly's final vote on the bill relating to assisted dying, MP Alexandre Allegret-Pilot publishes a tribune In it, he puts forward a hypothesis: the legalization of euthanasia and assisted suicide could have indirect consequences on funding priorities for medical research. To support his argument, the elected official relies on an analysis of Canadian public data concerning funding allocated to research on amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS, or Lou Gehrig's disease) and Huntington's disease between 2004 and 2025.
According to this analysis, Canada, which legalized medical assistance in dying in 2016 before expanding access in 2021, has seen a shift in its funding trajectory for these two incurable neurodegenerative diseases. After several years of growth, the share of the federal research budget allocated to them appears to have plateaued between 2013 and 2018 before declining. Alexandre Allegret-Pilot cites a decrease of approximately 21% for both diseases combined and 28% for ALS (Lou Gehrig's disease) alone.
A strong correlation, without proof of causality.
The MP claims to have explored several alternative explanations, such as the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic, the effect of the "Ice Bucket Challenge," and the aging of the Canadian population. According to him, these factors are insufficient to explain the observed trend. He also points out that in the United States, where no comparable federal assisted dying program exists, public funding for research on ALS (Lou Gehrig's disease) and neurodegenerative diseases has increased significantly over the same period.
The author of the opinion piece acknowledges, however, that his study does not demonstrate a causal link between the legalization of assisted dying and changes in research funding. He clarifies that his work is based on the analysis of data from a single country and a single funding body, and that it highlights a correlation rather than definitive scientific proof. According to him, this "signal" nevertheless deserves to be taken into account in the French debate.
An argument put forward in the parliamentary debate on assisted dying
Alexandre Allegret-Pilot believes that broadening access criteria could eventually include patients with neurodegenerative diseases such as ALS or Huntington's disease. He argues that recognizing assisted dying as a response to these conditions could, in the long term, shift collective priorities in medical research.
The conclusions of this analysis are part of a debate that remains largely open. At this stage, no scientific study has definitively established that legalizing euthanasia automatically leads to a decrease in funding for research on the diseases in question. The effects of these public policies continue to fuel discussions among researchers, healthcare professionals, and policymakers.
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