DR CHONG Siow Ann raised a hard question about whether doctors should always tell their patients the truth ("Is harm done when a diagnosis is doctored?"; last Saturday).
Some doctors withhold the truth to protect the patient, especially one in a vulnerable state, from further physical and emotional harm.
We can appreciate that it is a difficult truth to tell, but on balance, there are many benefits to telling the truth and many reasons not to tell a lie.
In modern medicine, especially for a terminal illness, a team of doctors are usually involved in the clinical care of the patient.
So it is not easy for any one of the doctors to withhold information.
Telling the truth about a bad prognosis gives the patient the autonomy to decide the next course of action. They can refuse treatment to avoid unnecessary suffering if the chance of a cure is slim. Some of them may desire to write a will, should survival be improbable.
Or they can seek a second opinion. In terminal cases, doctors should, in fact, encourage patients to get another doctor's perspective.
Furthermore, patients can do online research on their own and may see through any untruthful information given, undermining their trust in their doctors.
Thus, only honesty and transparency can help doctors maintain patients' trust, which has always been the basis of the doctor-patient relationship. Medicine is one of the few professions that enjoy the absolute trust of the public.
Also, doctors may face the risk of patients or their family members seeking legal redress if subsequently, it is found that the diagnosis was doctored.
The practice of medicine is an art as well as a science. It involves honesty and compassion. Honesty matters to both patients and the medical profession.
In short, there is no way out but for doctors to sit with their patients and families, hold their hands and tell them the truth as empathically as possible.
Edmund Lam (Dr)
Some doctors withhold the truth to protect the patient, especially one in a vulnerable state, from further physical and emotional harm.
We can appreciate that it is a difficult truth to tell, but on balance, there are many benefits to telling the truth and many reasons not to tell a lie.
In modern medicine, especially for a terminal illness, a team of doctors are usually involved in the clinical care of the patient.
So it is not easy for any one of the doctors to withhold information.
Telling the truth about a bad prognosis gives the patient the autonomy to decide the next course of action. They can refuse treatment to avoid unnecessary suffering if the chance of a cure is slim. Some of them may desire to write a will, should survival be improbable.
Or they can seek a second opinion. In terminal cases, doctors should, in fact, encourage patients to get another doctor's perspective.
Furthermore, patients can do online research on their own and may see through any untruthful information given, undermining their trust in their doctors.
Thus, only honesty and transparency can help doctors maintain patients' trust, which has always been the basis of the doctor-patient relationship. Medicine is one of the few professions that enjoy the absolute trust of the public.
Also, doctors may face the risk of patients or their family members seeking legal redress if subsequently, it is found that the diagnosis was doctored.
The practice of medicine is an art as well as a science. It involves honesty and compassion. Honesty matters to both patients and the medical profession.
In short, there is no way out but for doctors to sit with their patients and families, hold their hands and tell them the truth as empathically as possible.
Edmund Lam (Dr)
