Mandatory Disclosure and Medical Paternalism

Medical practitioners are duty-bound to tell their patients the truth about their medical conditions, along with the risks and benefits of proposed treatments. Some patients, however, would rather not receive medical information. A recent response to this tension has been to argue that that the disc...

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Publié dans:Ethical theory and moral practice
Auteur principal: Bullock, Emma C. (Auteur)
Type de support: Électronique Article
Langue:Anglais
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Publié: Springer Science + Business Media B. V [2016]
Dans: Ethical theory and moral practice
Année: 2016, Volume: 19, Numéro: 2, Pages: 409-424
RelBib Classification:NCH Éthique médicale
VA Philosophie
Sujets non-standardisés:B Informed Consent
B Paternalism
B Epistemic paternalism
B patient autonomy
B The right not to know
Accès en ligne: Volltext (Verlag)
Volltext (doi)
Description
Résumé:Medical practitioners are duty-bound to tell their patients the truth about their medical conditions, along with the risks and benefits of proposed treatments. Some patients, however, would rather not receive medical information. A recent response to this tension has been to argue that that the disclosure of medical information is not optional. As such, patients do not have permission to refuse medical information. In this paper I argue that, depending on the context, the disclosure of medical information can undermine the patient’s ability to exercise her autonomy or have therapeutically detrimental effects. In the light of these insights I go on to develop a context-sensitive approach to medical disclosure. The advantage of this account is that it addresses concerns on both sides of the debate; whilst it acknowledges that patients do not have an exercisable ‘right not to know,’ it allows that in some cases medical information ought to be withheld.
ISSN:1572-8447
Contient:Enthalten in: Ethical theory and moral practice
Persistent identifiers:DOI: 10.1007/s10677-015-9632-2