Should doctors tell the truth to their patients? How much information should the patient know about a given disease or operation? These controversial questions are being asked more and more frequently in our society. Patients these days. are more susceptible to certain diseases than before. This article opposes the truth in the doctor-patient relationship. Not by directly defending the idea, but by first presenting how the truth can be harmful to the patient and arguing Higgs' objection to it, and then formulating my own objection to Higgs' argument. On the utilitarian side, lying might be a good choice. , because it brings more happiness to the patient. In fact, truthfulness can actually do harm. The patient's health situation becomes worse when he knows that he is suffering from a serious illness. He will become depressed and may suffer from psychological disorders like anxiety that reduce the effectiveness of healing. For example, people suffering from nosophobia, hypochondriasis or nosocomephobia: "which is an irrational fear of contracting an illness, a fear of hospitals or refers to excessive concern or worry about having a serious illness" are the more likely to be affected by the truth of having someone seriously ill or undergoing a dangerous medical operation. This is why some doctors use lies as a means of healing; they not only try to cure the disease, but also ensure that the patient is in their most relaxed state, so as not to harm them. Roger Higgs, in his article “On Telling the Truth to Patients” states that doctors are not exempt from telling the truth. In other words, when a doctor lies, he must justify himself. For the argument from maleficence, Higgs argues that the truth does no harm; but the way the doctor tells the truth to... middle of paper ... a woman who falls down and loses her baby; at the hospital, when she wakes up, she sees the doctor and says “is my baby okay? Please tell me he’s okay!” Here, she doesn't want to know the truth; rather, she wants to escape it because she is afraid. Whether the doctor tells her "your baby is dead" or "I'm really sorry to tell you that your baby is dead, but don't be sad, you can have another, you're still young", the woman will cry in both situations. because the truth will not change and it will cause harm. From these examples we can conclude that people are afraid because they know the truth and because what is frightening brings harm and pain. So the truth leads to evil, not the way it is told. Works Cited “Nosophobia and hypochondria among medical students.” Wikipedia, encyclopedia. May 20, 2013, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nosophobia. Internet. April 15 2014.