評論
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Doctors confront such choices often and urgently. At times, they see important reasons to lie for the patient's own sake; in their eyes, such lies differ sharply from self-serving ones.
醫生們常常面臨這樣的非常緊迫的選擇。他們不時認為，為了病人自身的利益，撒謊很有必要，在他們看來，這種謊言與利己的謊言截然不同。
Studies show that most doctors sincerely believe that the seriously ill do not want to knowthe truth about their condition, and that informing them risks destroying their hope, so that they may recover more slowly, or deteriorate faster, perhaps even commit suicide. As one physician wrote: "Ours is a profession which traditionally has been guided by a precept thattranscends the virtue of uttering the truth for truth's sake, and that is 'as far as possible do no harm.'"
研究結果表明，大多數醫生深信身患重病的人不想知道他們的真實病情，如果將真情相告，則有可能使他們完全失去希望，結果使他們恢復得更慢或惡化得更快，甚至會自尋短見。正如一位內科醫生寫道："我們這個職業，傳統上恪守一條信條，那就是：'盡可能不造成傷害'，這一信條勝過為講真話而講真話的美德"。
Armed with such a precept, a number of doctors may slip into deceptive practices that they assume will "do no harm" and may well help their patients. They may prescribe innumerable placebos, sound more encouraging than the facts warrant, and distort grave news, especially tothe incurably ill and the dying.
有了這樣一個指導原則，一些醫生可能漸漸習慣于采用他們認為對病人很可能有益而"無害"的騙人做法。他們可能開出無數帖安慰劑，說一些沒有事實根據的打氣的話，并歪曲嚴重的病情，對那些患有不治之癥和瀕臨死亡的病人，則尤其如此。
But the illusory nature of the benefits such deception is meant to produce is now coming to be documented. Studies show that, contrary to the belief of many physicians, an overwhelming majority of patients do want to be told the truth, even about grave illness, and feel betrayed when they learn that they have been misled. We are also learning that truthful information, humanely conveyed, helps patients cope with illness: helps them tolerate pain better, need less medicine, and even recover faster after surgery.
然而，現在開始有人提出證據，說明這種欺騙旨在給病人帶來好處的說法是虛幻的。研究結果表明，與許多醫生的想法相反，絕大多數病人確實想知道真實情況，甚至是嚴重的病情。當他們了解到醫生沒有對他們講真話的時候，他們感到自己被玩弄了。我們還獲悉，將真實情況妥當地告訴病人，能幫助他們與病魔作斗爭，有助于他們更好地忍受疼痛，減少用藥，甚至在手術后更快地康復。
