According to a recent survey of nearly 2,000 physicians in St. Louis and throughout the country, a surprising percentage of doctors admitted that they don't always tell their patient the whole truth when discussing their medical prognosis or treatment. Even more disturbing is that a significant number of doctors do not disclose medical errors to their patients for fear of being targeted in a medical malpractice lawsuit.

In the study, which was completed by researchers at Harvard University, about 11 percent of doctors stated that they had told a patient something that was not true in the past year. About 20 percent of respondents said that they had not told a patient about a mistake. Researchers found that female and minority doctors were more likely to be open and honest than male, white physicians.

Researchers acknowledged that doctor-patient communication about health care can be difficult, and admitted that their study did not examine the specific situations in which doctors lied or withheld information. However, nearly 20 percent of respondents did not completely agree with the assertion that doctors "should never tell a patient something that is not true." With about one-fifth of doctors willing to tell lies, how can patients know that what they are hearing is the truth?

The study also found that more than half of doctors had "described a patient's prognosis in a more positive manner than warranted" within the last year. What do you think about this? Does this help patients think more positively and recover more quickly, or does it simply give false hope?

Source: MSNBC, "Many docs tell white lies, study finds," Feb. 8, 2012