Cancer Diagnoses in China Does Culture Warrant Nondisclosure to Patients?

Abstract

Disclosing a cancer diagnosis to a patient is considered the right action for a physician to take in many Western
nations, such as the United States. In China, an East Asian nation, nondisclosure of a cancer diagnosis from a
patient is the convention. Instead of revealing a cancer diagnosis directly to a patient, physicians in China commonly
disclose it to the patient’s family members and give them the authority to make decisions on behalf of the patient.
Family members in China often decide to withhold disclosure from the patient. The practice of withholding a cancer
diagnosis from a patient is defended by China’s family-centered culture, which seeks to prevent causing psychological
distress to patients. I argue that China’s custom of the nondisclosure of cancer diagnoses directly to patients is
morally impermissible because it violates a patient’s human dignity and free will by excluding them from important
conversations concerning their own health. The implementation of culturally sensitive healthcare and the fulfillment
of a physician’s responsibility to be truthful to a patient can both be attained by continuing to include families into the
decision-making process while incorporating psychological support into medical training curricula and oncological
care.