title: [Life and death of the medical lie].
abstract: For several centuries many practitioners and people believed that fine words could help the recovery of patients and a friendly lie could conjure away a fatal prognosis. At the end of the 20th century, reversal of opinion imposed the truth of which advantages were more numerous than drawbacks.
authors.affiliation: Institut Bergonié, 229 cours de l'Argonne, 33076 Bordeaux.
authors.forename: Bernard
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Hoerni
mesh_terms: D008192:Deception; D004992:Ethics, Medical / Q000266:history; D049670:History, 17th Century; D049671:History, 18th Century; D049672:History, 19th Century; D049673:History, 20th Century; D049690:History, Ancient; D049691:History, Medieval; D006801:Humans; D010817:Physician-Patient Relations; D014342:Truth Disclosure