Truth: treatment of choice, scarce resource, or patient's right?

Abstract

Two approaches are described for addressing ethical problems of truth telling. In neither approach is truth telling an ethical absolute, but rather a means of attaining the goal that is assumed for medicine. The first approach, based upon the aim of benefiting the patient, is the view that information is to be disclosed or withheld according to the anticipated effect upon the patient's well-being. The second approach, based upon the aim of facilitating patient autonomy in health matters, is the view that informed decision making requires access to all information the patient considers relevant. While the choice between the two views belongs to the individual practitioner, the author proposes that the autonomy position affords the greatest benefit to both patient and physician.