The Ethics of Benevolent Deception

A practice commonly used in the medical field, “benevolent deception” is the act of physicians suppressing information about diagnoses in hopes of not causing patients emotional turmoil (Skloot 63). Benevolent deception is a contentious subject because when used, the bioethical principles of respect for autonomy and beneficence can conflict with each other. Respect for autonomy is the act of physicians acknowledging their patients’ abilities to make voluntary decisions on their own regarding their health care, while beneficence is the duty of doctors to help patients and remove harm from them (McCormick 4-5) When giving patients diagnoses, physicians are morally obliged to try to follow these doctrines, which is why some may mistakenly use benevolent deception because of how it honors the principle of beneficence. Due to the assumption that patients would not want to hear devastating news relating to their health, benevolent deception is deliberately used by numerous medical doctors in attempts to not cause emotional harm to a patient (Higgs 8).

However, in most medical situations, benevolent deception is not permissible because the patients’ given right to autonomy is disrespected by doctors. The only time when this practice is justifiable is if it used as a “last resort”, i.e., during circumstances of a crisis, which in this context is a life-threatening emergency with limited time available for a doctor to fully explain the diagnosis. Also, the motive for using deception must be to prevent extreme psychological or physical distress that could severely harm the patient. Nevertheless, except for when these exceptional circumstances occur, benevolent deception overall should not be utilized in everyday medical practice.

The majo...

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... correctly used by doctors instead of the ways how lies are commonly told in modern day medical practice. Overall, today’s physicians should not assume what they believe is best for their patients and should be truthful in relaying news about medical conditions, even though the diagnoses may be grave. Though the situation may look bleak, what doctors should do is take up the responsibility to be honest with their patients in order to honor the principle of respect for autonomy, and yet be beneficent by presenting a sense of realistic hope that treatment will succeed so that patients will not easily give up on their chance of living. Instead of putting one bioethical principle over the other, as seen with benevolent deception, a balance should be made in most circumstances so that a patient can receive the honest health care information he or she rightfully deserves.