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Abstract
Can a lie be justified if it saves a human life or a community, or if another great evil is avoided? The article proposes that health professionals need not always tell the truth, depending on situation; but, this does not refute the significance of telling the truth. It also elucidates the value of telling the truth, and the challenges for telling the whole truth. Two prominent theories of ethics, Deontological and Consequentialism are deliberated, together with the integration of examples to illustrate main areas of interest.
Keywords: truth-telling, health professionals, ethics, deception
Introduction
The truth hurts, as most people say. Yet while honesty has always been understood as the best policy, it has also played a role in the temptation to lie. Health professionals are expected to always tell the truth to their patients simply because it is the right thing to do. Still, arguably, if they were to examine their work every day, there are demands in which the truth is not always a definite matter. This brings us to the question: Is there a special moral duty and obligation for health professionals to always tell their patients the truth, or are there situations where some degree of dishonesty may be justifiable to avoid more serious harm to a patient? If there are reasons for not telling the truth, what are they? When could incomplete disclosure be justified, and under what circumstances? In the past, where the value of not doing harm (non-maleficence) was so strong, lying to the patient was considered acceptable whereby the arguments maintained that health professionals' primary moral obligation was to help and not cause harm to patients. Therefore, lying was generally accepted, and news that is perceived as causing stress was withheld to avoid for what is judged as the best interest of the patient. Today, many things have changed, and telling the truth has emerged among the most widely praised qualities of health professionals in contemporary biomedical ethics (1).
The Value of Truth-Telling in Health Care
One of the most pre-disposed values to being truthful is associated with respect for the patient as a person who is able to make decision. This is because, to determine a course of action and governance of care for a...