Doctors Not Always Honest with Patients

A study from 2012 published in Health Affairs shows that doctors are often not honest and truthful with their patients.  Moreover, many physicians fell that it is acceptable to mislead or withhold information.  The study was careful to state that “the vast majority of physicians completely agreed that physicians should fully inform patients about the risks and benefits of interventions and should never disclose confidential information to unauthorized persons.”  However the study also revealed that:

  • one-third of physicians did not completely agree with disclosing serious medical errors to patients
  • almost one-fifth did not completely agree that physicians should never tell a patient something untrue
  • nearly two-fifths did not completely agree that they should disclose their financial relationships with drug and device companies to patients
  • Just over one-tenth said they had told patients something untrue in the previous year

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