Joseph Collins | Should Doctors Tell the Truth

question 109

Multiple Choice

Joseph Collins | Should Doctors Tell the Truth?
Collins writes from a physician's point of view in 1927 about male, upper-class patients. His stance is paternalistic. He decides what is best for his patients and how much they should know, focusing, on the one hand, on positive consequences of his decisions to lie to patients (they did not despair or commit suicide) and, on the other hand, on negative consequences of his decisions to tell the truth to patients (they did despair or commit suicide) . At times he appears to justify his right to lie to patients on the basis of his superior understanding of their psyches and at others times on the fact that a prognosis is impossible due to the state of current medical knowledge.
-Collins is most interested in considering the case of patients who

• A) do want the truth.
• B) do not want the truth.
• C) are incapable of receiving the truth.
• D) have non-life-threatening illnesses.

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Definitions:

Upward Appeal

A strategy of influencing by seeking the support or approval of higher-level individuals or authorities within an organization.

Co-opting Antagonists

Co-opting Antagonists refers to a strategy of neutralizing or winning over opposition by involving them in the decision-making process or by addressing their concerns.

Influence Outcomes

The ability to affect the results or consequences of actions, decisions, or behaviors in a desired direction.

Apathetic

Showing or feeling no interest, enthusiasm, or concern.