Benevolent deception is the practice of doctors withholding upsetting or negative information from their patients. They believed in this kind of deception at the time of Henrietta’s treatment because they felt it was unnecessary and unwise to burden patients with information that they could not fully understand and that could only upset them. 400
What does benevolent deception take away from a patient?
However, neither Henrietta or her family members knew this. They believed that doctors were actively working to cure her; they didn't realize that Henrietta was actually dying. So, "benevolent deception" takes away the patient's right of personal agency and his/her ability to make informed choices.
Why did Henrietta’s doctors deceive her?
Henrietta's doctors deceived her because they believed that it was the compassionate thing to do; they had little expectation that a black woman would be able to comprehend all the ramifications of her illness, and they wanted to protect her from further distress.
Is it true that benevolent deception is self-contradictory?
It's certainly true that the term "benevolent deception" is self-contradictory. The paradox of benevolent deception is that it isn't always benevolent or humane in actual terms. It gives false hope to a patient who has little chance of recovery from a fatal illness.
What happened when the hospital refused to give Henrietta any more blood?
What happened when the hospital refused to give Henrietta any more blood? She had gotten so much blood from the blood bank that the doctor wrote a note that said she had to stop all transfusions until "her deficit with the blood bank was made up".
What does benevolent deception mean who practices this and why?
A practice commonly used in the medical field, “benevolent deception” is the act of physicians suppressing information about diagnoses in hopes of not causing patients emotional turmoil (Skloot 63).
What did doctors think about Henrietta's claim that the cancer was spreading inside her?
Henrietta's cancer spread rapid, doctors first thought it was invasive. By that September (a month before Henrietta's death) her body was almost entirely taken over by tumors, they grew on her diaphragm, her bladder and lungs also blocked her intestines.
When did the doctors finally realize that Henrietta's cancer has returned?
When did doctors finally realize that Henrietta's cancer had returned? It was not until 2 months later: Henrietta kept saying something was wrong, but the doctors did not find anything. Until she couldn't urinate, something was wrong. What various medicines and methods did the doctors use to ease her pain?
What does the author mean by the phrase benevolent deception?
The author explains the practice of “benevolent deception,” in which doctors would withhold information from their patients in order to keep from upsetting them. This idea was especially prevalent when dealing with black patients.
What important information did Henrietta's doctor fail?
The doctor failed to tell Henrietta that the treatment left her infertile. She said if she had known then she would not have went through the treatment.
Why does skloot include repeated references to Henrietta's health and doctors responses?
Why does Skloot include repeated references to both Henrietta's health and the doctor's responses? Skloot shows that despite the symptoms Henrietta was experiencing, she was not questioning her doctors; the prevailing opinion of the time was “Doctors knew best and most patients didn't question that” (p. 63).
What is the main purpose for doctors using Henrietta's cells?
Today, these incredible cells — nicknamed "HeLa" cells, from the first two letters of her first and last names — are used to study the effects of toxins, drugs, hormones and viruses on the growth of cancer cells without experimenting on humans.
What treatment did Henrietta Lacks have?
In 1951, Henrietta Lacks, a 31-year-old African-American woman, went to Baltimore's Johns Hopkins Hospital to be treated for cervical cancer. Some of her cancer cells began being used in research due to their unique ability to continuously grow and divide in the laboratory.
Did George Gey meet Henrietta?
Dr. George Gey had developed effective and reproducible cell culturing and preservation techniques, and because of George Gey, HeLa cells were being sent all over the world. According to all but one of Skloot's sources, George Otto Gey never met Henrietta and didn't come see her while she was dying.
What does Emmett remember about Henrietta's pain?
When Emmett saw Henrietta this time, he hardly recognized her. She was wasted away from her disease, and strapped into the bed to keep her from falling out during seizures (from pain). Emmett witnessed one of these seizures, saying that she looked possessed by "the devil of pain itself."
What happened to Henrietta's cells in the lab?
But before she died, a surgeon took samples of her tumor and put them in a petri dish. Scientists had been trying to keep human cells alive in culture for decades, but they all eventually died. Henrietta's were different: they reproduced an entire generation every twenty-four hours, and they never stopped.
Do doctors withhold information from patients?
Except in emergency situations in which a patient is incapable of making an informed decision, withholding information without the patient's knowledge or consent is ethically unacceptable.
What is the ethical principle of severely demented people?
There is a transcendent ethical principle at stake here applying specifically to severely demented individuals: the preservation of their human dignity, even when they lack the ability to perceive its personal value. Truth-telling, in some form, appears to be a key part of this principle.
Who wrote the phrase "There are times for both the patient and the doctor when silence both carries deep meaning and is
Bioethicist James F. Drane captures a more modern-day description of this form of truth-telling: "There are times for both the patient and the doctor when silence both carries deep meaning and is an appropriate expression of truth.".
What is truthfulness in medicine?
Truthfulness is the foundation of the doctor-patient relationship, both as a method of discourse and as one of the "most widely praised character traits" of a doctor. Gone are the days when doctors withheld certain diagnoses or treatment details from patients. If anything, doctors today are often forced to disclose excess ...