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Disclosure of Injury and Illness: Responsibilities in the Physician-Patient Relationship

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  27 April 2021

Theodore R. LeBlang
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Extract

In one of his few decisions addressing the interface of law and medicine, Oliver Wendell Holmes observed that, The patient has no more right to all the truth than he has to all the medicine in the physician’s saddlebag. He should only get so much as is good for him.

During the last 60 or so years, the question of how much medical information is indeed good for the patient has been the subject of innumerable lawsuits. From this plethora of litigation, a clear common law trend which favors maximum disclosure of information has become evident. Relying upon the fiduciary nature of the physician-patient relationship, the courts have imposed upon the physician a duty to inform a patient fully regarding the condition of his or her body. It is appropriate, therefore, to examine various exemplary case decisions in an effort to portray effectively the nature and scope of the physician’s rights and responsibilities in this context.

Type
Article
Information
Law, Medicine and Healthcare , Volume 9 , Issue 5 , September 1981 , pp. 4 - 7
Copyright
Copyright © American Society of Law, Medicine and Ethics 1981

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References

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