title: [Truth disclosure in physicians' dialogue: compassionate lie or merciless statistics?].
abstract: Breaking bad news is one of the most important and most difficult tasks of a physician. The training for this dialogue should be intensified during the medical curriculum. Physicians of the town of Zurich in general inform their patients truthfully about the seriousnessy of their illness. The prognosis of a patient is revealed in a careful way with a wide range of options. In the northern countries of Europe the truth in medical diagnosis and prognosis is revealed in a straight way, whereas in the south and the southeast the truth is generally hidden from the patient. A few simple rules are given for the initial and the subsequent dialogues between the physician and a patient with an incurable disease.
authors.affiliation: Medizinische Klinik, Stadtspital Triemli, Zürich.
authors.forename: O
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Oelz
mesh_terms: D002388:Catastrophic Illness / Q000523:psychology; D008192:Deception; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000523:psychology; D010817:Physician-Patient Relations; D011379:Prognosis; D014342:Truth Disclosure
vernacular_title: Wahrheitsvermittlung im ärztlichen Gespräch: barmherzige Lüge oder erbarmungslose Statistik?