Sissela Bok's Lying: Moral Choice In Public And Private Life

Sissela Bok explores the moral and ethical complexities of lying and deception in her book, Lying: Moral Choice in Public and Private Life. One of the scenarios she considers is the normalization of lying and deception in medical contexts, such as in patient-doctor communication. Bok gives an example scenario of a patient who has just been diagnosed with cancer and has no other treatment options. The physician faces a difficult decision: whether to inform the patient of their diagnosis and the low chance of success with chemotherapy or to lie about the possibility of treatment. The physician chooses to tell the patient their cancer diagnosis but does not inform them of chemotherapy. A medical student working under the physician disagrees with

She advocates for the goal of disclosure and an atmosphere of openness, hoping to restore trust between the physician and the patient. Communicating truthful information, even if it may be life-changing, will promote more beneficial medical practices. However, she also acknowledges that there may be cases in which concealment of information may be necessary. In such cases, Bok suggests that truthful information should go to someone closely related to the patient which will promote a more open and trusting environment. A concern arises, then, about what the physician should do if the patient explicitly communicates that they do not want to be told about a diagnosis or treatment option even if it may better promote their

If Bok is firm in her goal of promoting a trusting relationship between the physician and the patient, then she may continue to agree with respecting the patient's desires, even if it means potentially harming others. After all, disclosing the results to others will betray the patient's trust and jeopardize the relationship between the physician and the patient. Resultantly, they may be less likely to seek medical help in the future. On the other hand, by withholding the information, the physician may be failing to fulfill their duty to protect the health of