Do oncologists lie about prognosis?

Many have fulminated against oncologists who lie to patients about their prognoses, but sometimes cancer doctors lie for or with patients to improve our chances of survival.
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Are oncologists truthful?

Oncologists often do not give honest prognostic and treatment-effect information to patients with advanced disease, trying not to “take away hope.” The authors, however, find that hope is maintained when patients with advanced cancer are given truthful prognostic and treatment information, even when the news is bad.
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Are oncologists honest?

Abstract. Background: Oncologists often do not give honest prognostic and treatment-effect information to patients with advanced disease.
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Do doctors lie about prognosis?

Research shows that it happens rather often. Eleven percent of 1,800-plus physicians recently surveyed by Massachusetts General Hospital admitted to having lied to a patient in the preceding year, and 55 percent said they'd described a prognosis to a patient in a more positive light than was medically accurate.
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Can an oncologist rule out cancer?

An oncologist is a physician who is highly trained to investigate, diagnose and treat an individual with cancer or suspected cancer. These doctors can treat many different types of cancer in various parts of the patient's body. If you have cancer, an oncologist can make the treatment plan based on pathology reports.
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Oncologists discuss McCain Prognosis



Can an oncologist diagnose cancer without a biopsy?

Imaging tests, such as CT scans or MRIs, are helpful in detecting masses or irregular tissue, but they alone can't tell the difference between cancerous cells and cells that aren't cancerous. For most cancers, the only way to make a diagnosis is to perform a biopsy to collect cells for closer examination.
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What do oncologists do when they get cancer?

Oncologists are doctors who diagnose and treat cancer. They often act as the main healthcare provider for someone with cancer—designing treatment plans, offering supportive care, and sometimes coordinating treatment with other specialists.
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How often are oncologists wrong?

Seventy-four percent (n = 63) of patient-recalled oncologist life-expectancy estimates were accurate to within a year (i.e., ±12 months of actual survival), 57% (n = 48) were accurate to within 6 months, and 26% (n = 22) were accurate to within 3 months (Table 1).
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Can a doctor lie about diagnosis?

A doctor's lie is different than a typical lie. A lie is an intentionally false statement, but it can differ from patient to patient. Any lie that causes harm to the patient, masks the doctor's mistakes, covers up medical errors, or disguises fraud, however, is illegal.
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Is prognosis the same as life expectancy?

Dr. Byock: Prognosis is a term for the predicted course of a disease. People commonly use the word to refer to an individual's life expectancy, how long the person is likely to live.
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How can doctors tell how long you have to live?

There are numerous measures – such as medical tests, physical exams and the patient's history – that can also be used to produce a statistical likelihood of surviving a specific length of time.
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What happens if chemo doesn't shrink tumors?

In those cases, the patients are very likely to remain cancer-free for life after surgery. But not all tumors shrink under chemotherapy. If the tumor resists neoadjuvant therapy, there can be a higher risk of developing metastatic disease, meaning that the tumor will recur in other organs, such as bones or lungs.
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How long can chemo prolong life?

For most cancers where palliative chemotherapy is used, this number ranges from 3-12 months. The longer the response, the longer you can expect to live.
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Does poor prognosis mean death?

A bad prognosis means there is little chance for recovery. Someone with a good or excellent prognosis is probably going to get better.
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What is poor prognosis?

What is a poor prognosis? A poor prognosis refers to an estimation that there is a low chance of recovery from a disease. For example, if a person's cancer is an aggressive type or has already metastasized to other areas, a doctor may give them a poor prognosis.
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How fast does chemo work to shrink tumors?

In general, chemotherapy can take about 3 to 6 months to complete. It may take more or less time, depending on the type of chemo and the stage of your condition.
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What is it called when a doctor lies to a patient?

Giving patients complete and accurate information is also part of the duty of care that doctors owe them. If a patient files a medical malpractice claim, a doctor's lie(s) could be considered “proof of fault.”
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Why do doctors lie on medical records?

The doctor lied to protect himself from a malpractice lawsuit. It is surprising how often doctors get caught in a lie because there they don't make sure all sets of records have been altered.
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Is it ever ethical for a physician to lie to a patient?

It is a truth universally acknowledged that ethical doctors will not intentionally deceive their patients. The American Medical Association states: “A physician shall . . . be honest in all professional interactions, and strive to report physicians . . . engaging in fraud or deception, to appropriate entities.”
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How accurate are doctors life expectancy?

Our study of 365 physicians and 504 hospice outpatients found that only 19.7% of prognoses were accurate. Most predictions (63.0%) were overestimates, and physicians overall overestimated survival by a factor of about 5.
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How accurate is life expectancy?

In our study, physicians correctly estimated patients' 10-year life/death status 68.14% of the time.
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How often are terminal illnesses misdiagnosed?

According to previous research cited in the new study, diagnostic errors “contribute to approximately 10 percent of patient deaths” and “account for 6 to 17 percent of adverse events in hospitals.” Graber estimates that the rate of misdiagnosis, although difficult to determine, occurs in 10 percent to 20 percent of ...
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Why do oncologists stop chemo?

If you've undergone three or more chemotherapy treatments for your cancer and the tumors continue to grow or spread, it may be time for you to consider stopping chemotherapy.
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Do oncologists profit from chemotherapy?

Smith, an associate professor of oncology at the Medical College of Virginia Commonwealth University, has estimated that oncologists in private practice typically make two-thirds of their practice revenue from the chemotherapy concession.
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Do oncologists use chemo when they get cancer?

Medical oncologists treat cancer using medication, including chemotherapy, immunotherapy, and targeted therapy. Radiation oncologists treat cancer using radiation therapy, which is the use of high-energy x-rays or other particles to destroy cancer cells.
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