Truth Telling

Although honesty is the best policy, people get tempted to lie often. Lying is not justified when done under the intention of manipulating others to achieve personal gain. It is the obligation of doctors, to tell the truth to their patients, but often, a particular situation makes it hard for them to do so. Most times, doctors are left at crossroads as decide whether to fulfill their moral duty by telling the truth or to preserve the health of the patient who might not be ready to hear the facts at that particular time. In such situations, doctors may find themselves giving a partial truth, which is equivalent to a lie.  In the past, doctors always lied to avoid stressing the patient, but today, things have changed as telling the truth has become more meaningful to the patients. The patients can use this information to plan for their care and relieve their past anxiety. Doctors should tell the truth to their patients to help them cope with the situation, but for patients who may not be able to handle it, it is right to withhold till the time that they are for it.

The Value of Telling the Truth

By telling the truth, the doctor shows respect to the patient by identifying that they are capable of making their own decisions. The information received helps the patient to make an informed decision about their health than might help them in their quick recovery. Lying to patients puts them in confusion that might lead them to make wrong decisions about their health. Lying is against the values of patient-centered care, patient empowerment, and shared decision making. For patients to undergo a particular procedure, doctors need to be truthful on the risks involved to enable the patients to make an informed decision (Nie and Walker).

Lying is harmful to humanity; it is better if the truth harms a person than for a lie to harm a person. Lying destroys the trust between the patient and the physician, but telling the truth strengthens it. Although doctors think that they are helping by telling a lie, the patients become upset once they discover the truth. Doctors should always look for the right opportunities to disclose the facts to their patients as soon as possible. In telling the truth, the patient gains physical and psychological strength to deal with the pain associated with treatment while lying can prevent the patient from seeking treatment. When patients get empowered with the truth, they can make bold steps such as requesting second opinions, plan for their care and prepare themselves financially. Lying leaves the patient unprepared to deal with future consequences. Withholding the truth may stress the patient more because some may think that their situation is worse than it truly is (Velan, Ziv, and Kaplan)

Challenges of telling the truth

Although doctors may have the intention of telling the truth, some patients may not want to hear it. These patients prefer that the doctor or family members make health decisions for them. Forcing the truth on someone who is not ready to receive the information is damaging, and it can ruin the relationship between the doctor and the patient (Zahedi). For example, it is better to deceive a depressed person to prevent them from sinking further into depression. In such a case, the truth negatively affects the person’s health more than the ailment itself. Therefore, doctors should make a judgment on the obligation of telling the truth versus respecting the right of a patient not to know (Drane).

It is excellent and justified for doctors to hold information for patients that are not competent to bear it. A lie is justifiable in such cases. The role of doctors is to analyze the course of action that would produce the best results for the patients. The analysis focuses on the clinical condition of a patient at that particular time. Telling the whole truth is also quite tricky as patients may not understand the complexity of the discussion. Instead, doctors should focus on highlighting the main points to the patients rather than going into in-depth details about their condition (Zolkefli).

Conclusion

Doctors should always work on the assumption that patients need to tell the truth. Doctors should respect their patients’ choices in whether they know the truth or not. When a patient gets lied to because of their condition, their cases must be put under proper documentation justifying the reasons why. This decision must undergo constant review to gauge the persons’ abilities to bear the truth. Telling the truth depends on the needs of a patient. Doctors should also not give too much information that might overwhelm patients and lead to misinterpretations of the condition. Doctors should make sure that the information they provide does not destroy hope in the patients; this might cause them to hold back part of the truth.

Works Cited

Drane, J. “Honesty in Medicine: Should Doctors Tell the Truth?” uchile.cl (2015). <https://www.uchile.cl/portal/investigacion/centro-nterdisciplinario-de-estudios-en-bioetica/publicaciones/76983/honesty-in-medicine-should-doctors-tell-the-truth>.

Nie, J., and S. Walker. “Truth-Telling.” Encyclopedia of Global Bioethics (2015). <https:/doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-05544-2_427-1>.

Velan, B., A. Ziv, and G. Kaplan. “Truth-Telling and Doctor-Assisted Death As Perceived by Israeli Physicians.” BMC Med Ethics (2019). <https://doi.org/10.1186/s12910-019-0350-5>.

Zahedi, F. “The Challenge of Truth Telling Across Cultures: A Case Study.” Journal of Medical Ethics and History of Medicine (2011). <https://europepmc.org/article/med/23908753>.

Zolkefli, Y. “Ethics of Truth-Telling in Health Care Settings.” Malaysian Journal of Medical Sciences 25.3 (2018): 135-139.