Many doctors stay mum on controversial care: study - Yahoo! News

Many doctors stay mum on controversial care: study - Yahoo! News: "Many doctors stay mum on controversial care: study By Gene Emery
Wed Feb 7, 5:05 PM ET


BOSTON (Reuters) - Do not always expect straight talk from your doctor about treatments he or she disapproves of -- 14 percent of physicians believe it is acceptable to withhold information about topics such as birth control, abortion and sedating dying patients, according to a study published on Wednesday.
In addition, 29 percent feel no obligation to tell patients where they can go to get that care.
Most of the 1,144 U.S. doctors who responded to the poll, accord to a report in the New England Journal of Medicine, supported full disclosure and referral to another health care provider if they had moral objections to a treatment or procedure.
'If physicians' ideas translate into their practices, then 14 percent of patients -- more than 40 million Americans -- may be cared for by physicians who do not believe they are obligated to disclose information about medically available treatments they consider objectionable,' Dr. Farr Curlin of the University of Chicago and colleagues wrote.
'In addition, 29 percent of patients -- or nearly 100 million Americans -- may be cared for by physicians who do not believe they have an obligation to refer the patient to another provider for such treatments.'
Men, Christian doctors and physicians with the strongest religious beliefs were most likely to say it is permissible to withhold information and not help a patient find another source of controversial care.
The findings mean that 'if you anticipate wanting access to an area of medical treatment that may be controversial, you might want to have a frank conversation with your physician up front,' Curlin said in a telephone interview.
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