Truth Telling In Medicine

Truth Telling In Medicine
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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 ...