On Telling, Curing and Healing

Abstract

A sub-leader in the South African Medical Journal, titled "Reluctance to break bad news", describes two case histories in which the diagnosis of malignant disease was missed by primary care doctors, in spite of the presence of critical s5rmptoms over a lengthy period. These cases, in fact, reflect failure, rather than reluctance to break bad news - a serious indictment of our professional responsibilities, particularly so if we expect lay people to recognise these very same symptoms.