Table 2.

Total Number of Times and Number of the Twenty Informants Mentioning the Major Themes Related to the Ethical Concerns Involved with Facilitating Grateful Patient Philanthropy

Theme	Total number of times theme mentioned in all interviews	Number of respondents referring to theme, n (%)
Gift changes relationship	68	18 (90)
Beyond the physician’s professional role	36	15 (75)
Justice and fairness	25	12 (60)
Patients vulnerable	6	5 (25)
No ethical issues*	19	11(55)

Respondents were not queried specifically about these themes, and these counts represent spontaneous and unsolicited responses in each subcategory

*Even though all 20 informants were able to describe ethical concerns associated with grateful patient philanthropy, 11 physicians explained that there were no ethical issues when specifically asked