BMJ  2007;334 (5 May), doi:10.1136/bmj.39203.526481.47

Editor's Choice

Editor's choice

For patient or population?

The first 150 words of the full text of this article appear below.

Two weeks ago, a Head to Head in the BMJ asked whether you should tell patients about treatments that they can't have. Robert Marcus' resounding "yes" (BMJ 2007;334:826-7 doi: 10.1136/bmj.39171.426690.AD) centred on the premise that doctors owe a primary duty to the patient rather than the state. But how long can this untrammelled advocacy for the individual survive?

Doctors should not "connive with any external agency to deceive patients," wrote Marcus. The rapid responses agreed, and one of them, published this week as a letter, takes the argument a step further. Patients should not only be made aware of treatments that they can't have, says radiotherapist Michael Williams (doi: 10.1136/bmj.39199.440104.3A), but of the risks of delaying treatments they can have. For patients with cancer, true candour means informing them of the adverse effects of waiting times on their prognosis. Failure to communicate these serious risks to patients, . . . [Full text of this article]

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