title: When disclosing a serious diagnosis to a minor conflicts with family values.
abstract: An 11-year old Asian-Indian boy was recently discovered to have acute myelogenous leukemia. The pediatric hematologist-oncologist arranged a meeting to inform the parents about the diagnosis, prognosis and treatment. The physician planned to include the child in this process. However, the child's father, a computer programmer, made a request that his son should not be informed about the diagnosis of leukemia. The father asked that his son should be told that he has a severe infection and will require intensive treatment. The oncologist then informed the father that, as a physician, she has the responsibility to truthfully disclose the diagnosis to a patient, and she insisted on informing the child about the leukemia in an open and truthful manner.
authors.affiliation: New York Medical College, NY, USA.
authors.forename: Vidya Bhushan
authors.initials: VB
authors.lastname: Gupta
authors.forename: Jennifer
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Willert
authors.forename: Mark
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Pian
authors.forename: Martin T
authors.initials: MT
authors.lastname: Stein