Play along...

[tinyjo]

OK, just for fun, here is the essay question I will be answering this afternoon:

‘It is wrong to tell lies, so patients should always be told the truth about their condition.’ Is this a good argument?

I've turned off emailing comments on this and I promise not to look until I've written the essay (1000 words, in case you're interested). What do you think?

Comments

[tinyjo.livejournal.com]

Yeah, that's one part of the Four Principles approach to medical ethics:

1) Autonomy - the patient has the right to automous decision making.
2) Benificence - doctors should strive for the best outcome for the patient
3) Non-malificence - doctors should strive to do no harm
4) Justice - resources should be fairly allocated with no one patient being privileged over another

Obviously, all those have interesting definitional arguements and I can provide examples when all 4 principles might support lying to the patient.

[tinyjo.livejournal.com]

NB, these are not ordered and may well contradict eachother - they provide a framework of issues to consider when making decisions.