1. “There are some circumstances in which the health care professionals are probably exempted from society’s general requirement for truthfulness,” but these are very rare circumstances in which there are clearly no acceptable alternatives (p.103). When it comes to lying to patients Higgs considers there are limited circumstances where medical professionals should lie. People attempt to defend lying to patients by saying no patient likes hearing depressing or frightening news, but Higgs argues by saying professionals would not consider it a duty to conceal evidence to shelter a patient’s happiness. He mentions a number of studies that have been conducted for over the past thirty years between patients and doctors. These studies have shown that perhaps a fifth of…show more content… (p.106). On the other hand, between two-thirds and three-quarters of the studies agreed that the patients were thankful to have been told the truth or said they would wish to know the truth. There have been misconceptions of double standards when it comes to doctors because studies revealed that doctors would want to know the truth but in earlier studies the same doctors said they would not speak openly to their patients about the truth. Doctors have been given a choice of withholding information from their patients due to protecting themselves as well as avoiding being the bearer of bad news. Higgs suggests that doctors look at death as an enemy and compares it to police being over-concerned with violence and firemen with fire (p.107). Ultimately, respect for the patient comes first whether that includes allowing the patient to have whatever control is left of the situation and allowing the patient to have choices. Higgs believes that the patient does not deserve to be lied to and that the doctor should not put themselves first just to protect themselves from the pain or blame of sharing uneasy
