Truth Telling In Medicine

Truth Telling In Medicine
Name:
Institution:
TRUTH TELLING IN MEDICINE
What are the expectations of truth telling in medicine?Should health care personnel always tell the truth? What is Collins position? How is truth telling related to outcomes? In your view under what conditions,if any should they lie.
In medicine, truth telling is a crucial virtue of health-care specialists and it links to the respect for persons.Truth telling in medicine refers to the practice of medicine personnel being open forthright with the patients with the intention to encourage legitimacy in doctor-patient relationship (Jonsen, 1999).The virtue helps develop the trust between doctor-patient relationships. Additionally it assists the patients in decision-making and future planning.Therefore, the medical guidelines recommend that doctors should not withhold medical information from patients who desire to be informed.Inthis case, the practitioners expect the patients to tell them the truth in relation to their health. This would help the physicians understand the patient and ease the process of diagnosis. Truth telling to the physicians by the patients is significant in that it will help the doctors in prescribing and supporting them. On the other hand, patients expect doctors to tell the truth concerning their health. This would enhance patients developing trust with the physicians.
However, physicians at times opt not to tell their patients the truth in relation to their health.Some doctors are ready to use deception in the medical practice in some occurrences. Doctors support themselves not based on the researches but on their clinical experiences. There are circumstances that doctors feel they need not tell the truth (Jones,2004). They may tell lies in order to protect themselves. If an error occurs in the process of diagnosis, a physician may opt to with hold the facts. Doctors may think it is not wise to disclose some information to the patients they think it may cause harm. They perceive that the information may be bad news to the patients thus resulting to depression. However, medical guidelines recommend that doctors should tell the truth always to the patients. The physician should disclose the information in a way that will bring the patients into understanding and acceptance of the reality. The doctors should be supportive to the patients.
Dr. Joseph Collins is a renowned doctor. He practiced medicine and wrote articles on the significance of the virtue of truth telling in the medicine field. His positionconcerning truth telling is that truth telling is a second necessity from food. He suggests that every doctor must practice the virtue of truth telling. For it encourages confidence between the doctors and the patients. In 1903, he had written an article on truth and the falsehood in the medical field. He recommends that patients should know the truth about the diagnosis and their treatment.
Truth telling is significant to the outcomes of every medical case. The degree of the truth determines how the patients are going to respond to the doctors’ prescription. A patient who has the wrong information is likely to make wrong decisions. This might lead to the worsening of the condition and even to the loss of lives. However, the truth may end up being as dangerous as a lie told to the patient. Especially if the physician does not take, time to prepare the patient to receive the news. The truth may make a patient turn out to be suicidal and dangerous to others. For example, a patient may learn that the disease was transmitted by the partner may want to kill them. The truth relates to the outcomes of every medical case. Patients want the doctors tell the truth on the diagnosis and the therapy unlike what the doctors have assumed for a long time. The truth satisfies the patients and helps develop trust and confidence. It makes the patient become involved in decision making in concern to their health. The patients need to know every bit of the treatment procedure and outcomes of the tests done on them. Doctors should not just mention but seek to make the patients understand the truths about their illness. Other physicians worry about the effects of the truth. The results seem harmful to the patients. However, doctors should disclose the information with lots of sensitivity. At times, the family of the patient may request the doctor to withhold the information. The family’s intention is to save their beloved from the agony of hearing the painful results. Therefore, the doctor should engage the family in a discussion and let them understand the importance of the patient’s awareness.
However, the medical ethics justify only two situations that a doctor may lie or hold back the information from the patient.As mentioned above, if a patient portrays the possibility of causing harm to ...