Paternalism

Argument for paternalism

Information about conditions or treatment risks frightening the patient, can be bad for patients health, medical health is the ultimate priority for patients, to prevent harm to their health, doctors may override patients’ rights to information

Individualism

Prioritizing the rights of individuals to be free from control by authorities

Positive rights

Rights that ask for resources

Negative rights

Rights that are inherent and should not be infringed upon

Reasonable man standard of informed consent

Patients want to know more than doctors think

Subjective standard of informed consent

Difficult because what the doctor needs to judge what a patient would want to.

Hippocratic confidentiality

Doctor is obligated only to keep harmful information private.

Hippocratic view of information

often means witholding distressing information from patients

Why the shift to truth telling

1) doctors believe the truth is better for patient outcomes. 2) Change to respect for persons in medicine.