(ps this is just made up - obviously...)
You are a doctor. You received a young boy at the hospital who is only 8 years old. You discover he has a life-threatening illness and you predict he has only a few months to live. Upon informing his parents, they tell the doctor explicitly not to tell their son, since they don't want him to become pessimistic. You, being a doctor, have the right to doctor/ patient confidentiality and you are obligated to inform the boy about his illness. What do you do? Not tell the child and let him find out later, or tell him against the will of his parents and expose him to the truth?
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4 comments:
UM I DONT KNOW THATS A GOOD ONE... I WOULDN'T TELL THE CHILD BECAUSE IF YOU WERE THE PARENT YOU SHOULD HAVE THTE RIGHT TO TELL YOUR CHILD THERE SECRET
umm wow haha this is a hard one...
this is hard because normally it is the patient asking the doctor not to tell their parents something and the doctor has to listen. But the parents are trying to protect their child and if they think that is the right thing to do, then i guess you have to listen to the parents. So i would not tell the child
Even though your supposed to inform the patient before the parents even... this patient is a minor and so i think i wouldn't tell the child because if i was a parent i dont know if i would want my eight year old to know that either!
I would actually tell the patient. Even though he is a minor and his parents have control over him, you have to keep in mind doctor-patient confidentiality and the fact that the boy has a right to know.
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