Reference no: EM133765017

Question

The Smith family is in a car accident, and all five family members are hospitalized as a result. The father is critically injured, and in two days it becomes clear that he is going to die. The wife, although making good progress, is still confined to her room. When she is told of her husband's deteriorating condition, she insists that the physician tell her husband, since he is the sort of man who would want to know. The children, still in the hospital, have not seen their father and keep asking about him. The physician refuses to tell the husband of his condition. He dies a few days later. Did the physician have an obligation to tell this patient that he was dying, especially since this patient would want to know? Did the physician have a right to tell the wife since the patient was competent and there was no need for a surrogate? What should the children have been told when they asked about their father?