The assertion that knowledge is power is true and essential for modern medicine. This is because doctors and patients always want to get as much information as possible about the disease, diagnosis, or symptoms. Thus, having collected a large amount of data, medical staff can more accurately diagnose and prescribe the correct treatment. However, in some cases, taking into account all available information can be detrimental as the doctor begins to discard all drug options due to minor side effects (Steinbock et al., 2012). On the other hand, the patient benefits from knowledge because they know what they are ill with and when they will recover. However, not always a large amount of information can positively impact the patient and their health.
In some cases, it can be agreed that the “less is more” approach is more effective. In this way, rash decisions and actions of the patient can be prevented and protected from possible consequences. When patients know too much, they may start thinking about their disease or symptoms, trying to read about them and self-diagnose them. Thus, a conflict may begin with the attending physician, who has already approved the correct diagnosis but is now forced to spend time explaining everything to the patient.
The opinion varies depending on whether the person is the one who treats or the patient. When a person is sick, they want to have as much information as possible about their illness or symptoms. Thus, people think they can somehow influence or stop the disease. However, from the doctor’s side, the situation looks different, and they do not want patients to know everything. In most cases, this will complicate the treatment process and put an emotional burden on everyone. In this context, partial information may be better than complete data for the patient to help him guess or consider several options. In this way, it can calm the person and help them concentrate more on the treatment process than on their illness.
Reference
Steinbock, B., London, A. & Arras, J. (2012). Ethical issues in modern medicine: Contemporary readings in bioethics, 8th ed. McGraw Hill.