Informed Consent, Cancer, and Truth in Prognosis

Abstract

Annas provides a thoughtful analysis of the Arato case (Jan. 20 issue),¹ in which physicians were sued for not informing a patient with pancreatic cancer of his prognosis. Since most Japanese doctors still withhold the truth from terminally ill patients, I became interested in how American physicians can be honest with patients. My interviews with American physicians surprised me, because I learned that they are not entirely candid with dying patients². At least half those I interviewed said they deliver bad news to patients with the worst part (the prognosis) often left out and with an emphasis on treatment possibilities to counterbalance the negative information.