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      The Ethics of Truth-Telling in Health-Care Settings

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          There is no author summary for this article yet. Authors can add summaries to their articles on ScienceOpen to make them more accessible to a non-specialist audience.

          Abstract

          Can a lie be justified if it saves a human life or a community, or if another great evil is avoided? The article proposes that health professionals need not always tell the truth, depending on situation; but, this does not refute the significance of telling the truth. It also elucidates the value of telling the truth, and the challenges for telling the whole truth. Two prominent theories of ethics, Deontological and Consequentialism are deliberated, together with the integration of examples to illustrate main areas of interest.

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          Truth may hurt but deceit hurts more: communication in palliative care

          LJ Fallowfield, VA Jenkins, HA Beveridge (2002)
          Healthcare professionals often censor their information giving to patients in an attempt to protect them from potentially hurtful, sad or bad news. There is a commonly expressed belief that what people do not know does not harm them. Analysis of doctor and nurse/patient interactions reveals that this well-intentioned but misguided assumption about human behaviour is present at all stages of cancer care. Less than honest disclosure is seen from the moment that a patient reports symptoms, to the confirmation of diagnosis, during discussions about the therapeutic benefits of treatment, at relapse and terminal illness. This desire to shield patients from the reality of their situation usually creates even greater difficulties for patients, their relatives and friends and other members of the healthcare team. Although the motivation behind economy with the truth is often well meant, a conspiracy of silence usually results in a heightened state of fear, anxiety and confusion--not one of calm and equanimity. Ambiguous or deliberately misleading information may afford short-term benefits while things continue to go well, but denies individuals and their families opportunities to reorganize and adapt their lives towards the attainment of more achievable goals, realistic hopes and aspirations. In this paper, some examples and consequences of accidental, deliberate, if well-meaning, attempts to disguise the truth from patients, taken verbatim from interviews, are given, together with cases of unintentional deception or misunderstandings created by the use of ambiguous language. We also provide evidence from research studies showing that although truth hurts, deceit may well hurt more. 'I think the best physician is the one who has the providence to tell to the patients according to his knowledge the present situation, what has happened before, and what is going to happen in the future' (Hippocrates).
          Article 0 comments Cited 58 times – based on 0 reviews     Review now
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            Would you like to know what is wrong with you? On telling the truth to patients with dementia.

            M Marzanski (2000)
            To discover what dementia sufferers feel is wrong with them; what they have been told and by whom, and what they wish to know about their illness. Ethical guidelines regarding telling truth appear to be equivocal. Declarations of cognitively intact subjects, attitudes of family members and current psychiatric practice all vary, but no previous research has been published concerning what patients with dementia would in fact like to know about their diagnosis and prognosis. Questionnaire study of the patients' opinions. Old Age Psychiatry Service in Worcester. 30 consecutive patients with dementia. The quality of information received has been poor and many patients have no opportunity to discuss their illness with anybody. Despite that almost half of the participants in this study had adequate insight and a majority declared that they would like to know more about their predicament. Although many patients would like to know the truth, the rights of those who do not want to know should also be respected. Therefore the diagnosis of dementia should not be routinely disclosed but (just as in other disorders) health care professionals should seek to understand their patients' preferences and act appropriately according to their choice.
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              Is honesty always the best policy? Ethical aspects of truth telling.

              Lauren Gold (2024)
              Physicians have not always believed that patients should be told of their diagnosis. Modern, western medical practice places a high value on providing accurate, truthful information to patients. This is heavily influenced by the commitment to patient autonomy and participation in decision-making. However, situations arise where truth telling is difficult to achieve, creating a dilemma for the treating doctor. This article discusses aspects of truth telling in a multicultural society.
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                Author and article information

                Journal
                Journal ID (nlm-ta): Malays J Med Sci
                Journal ID (iso-abbrev): Malays J Med Sci
                Journal ID (publisher-id): Malaysian Journal of Medical Sciences
                Title: The Malaysian Journal of Medical Sciences : MJMS
                Publisher: Penerbit Universiti Sains Malaysia
                ISSN (Print): 1394-195X
                ISSN (Electronic): 2180-4303
                Publication date (Print): May 2018
                Publication date (Electronic): 28 June 2018
                Volume: 25
                Issue: 3
                Pages: 135-139
                Affiliations
                PAPRSB Institute of Health Sciences, Universiti Brunei Darussalam, Jalan Tungku Link, Gadong BE1410, Brunei
                Author notes
                Correspondence: Dr Yusrita Zolkefli, MSc Health Care Ethics (University of Liverpool), PhD Nursing Studies (The University of Edinburgh), Lecturer, PAPRSB Institute of Health Sciences, Universiti Brunei Darussalam, Jalan Tungku Link, Gadong BE1410, Brunei. Tel: +673 246 0922/ 246 0923 ext. 2202/ 2206, E-mail: yusrita.zolkefli@ 123456ubd.edu.bn
                Article
                Publisher ID: 14mjms25032018_sc
                DOI: 10.21315/mjms2018.25.3.14
                PMC ID: 6422557
                PubMed ID: 30899195
                SO-VID: e8981a01-51c5-4acb-8fa7-5867e197fdbb
                Copyright © © Penerbit Universiti Sains Malaysia, 2018
                License:

                This work is licensed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) ( http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).

                History
                Date received : 24 August 2017
                Date accepted : 13 December 2017
                Categories
                Subject: Special Communications

                Keywords: truth-telling,health professionals,ethics,deception
                Data availability:
                Keywords: truth-telling, health professionals, ethics, deception

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