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

[lady-angelina.livejournal.com]

Aside from what others have said, I don't think patients should be told the truth of their condition just because "it's wrong to lie" so much as it is that they have a right to know about anything that affects them. If a doctor withholds information from the patient, they could be preventing that patient the opportunity to research and educate themselves and their loved ones on their condition, and the opportunity to make whatever preparations as needed. Furthermore, deliberately misleading someone can lead to some very awkward moments (not to mention anger and distrust) later on if/when the person learns the truth, especially if it's through other means.

This, of course, mainly applies to people who can have a basic cognitive grasp on the situation. If it's a very young child, as Prissi said, and the child isn't yet at a point where they can understand the complexities of their condition, perhaps they can be given a modified but still true account of their condition. Kids are surprisingly savvier than we grown-ups tend to think; while we may not want to scare them or hurt their feelings, I think we do at least need to give them some credit. =/

Anyway, I'm sure none of this made sense, sorry. =/

[prissi.livejournal.com]

This makes perfect sense, and yes, the whole anger and mistrust thing is a huge part of it. The last thing that you want as a physician is to damage the physician-patient relationship in such a powerfully irreparable way. If there isn't trust, then there isn't... compliance. We hate that word, because you ideally want the relationship to be a partnership, not a "you do this, because I said so, because I am the doctor" type thing, but there really is no other way to state it. :x