To Tell or Not to Tell Mrs. Smith is a 50-year-old woman with three adult children. She has been admitted to the hospital for tests to rule out cancer. While the tests are being processed, her husband and children meet with the doctor and ask him not to tell Mrs. Smith whether the results are malignant.

To Tell or Not to Tell
Mrs. Smith is a 50-year-old woman with three adult children. She has been admitted to the hospital for tests to rule out cancer. While the tests are being processed, her husband and children meet with the doctor and ask him not to tell Mrs. Smith whether the results are malignant. They tell the doctor that she is afraid of cancer and that if she is given the diagnosis, she will become severely depressed and give up all desire to live. The physician is not comfortable with this request, but the family insists. The physician reluctantly agrees. What ethical and legal concepts are implicated in the family’s request and physician’s decision to comply with it?