The Empire of Death: How Culture and Economics Affect Informed Consent in the U.S., the U.K., and Japan

Intimate Disconnections

“…Therefore, especially for patients with cancer, Japanese medical professionals regularly did not n o t e s t o c h a p t e r t w o inform a patient of a terminal diagnosis and relied on family members to decide if the patient should be told. Although this system might seem distasteful or patronizing, it meshed with doctors' paternalistic attitudes and a sense that the doctors were trained and able to bear the burden of terminal diagnoses (Annas and Miller 1994;Higuchi 1992). I thank China Scherz for pointing out that such strategic silences by doctors surrounding terminal diagnoses are not limited to Japan (Harris, Shao, and Sugarman 2003).…”

Intimate Japan: ethnographies of closeness and conflict

“…Therefore, especially for patients with cancer, Japanese medical professionals regularly did not inform a patient of a terminal diagnosis and relied on family members to decide if the patient should be told. Although this system might seem distasteful or patronizing, it meshed with frankly paternalistic attitudes by doctors and a sense that the doctors were trained and able to bear the burden of terminal diagnoses (Annas and Miller 1994;Higuchi 1992). I thank China Scherz for pointing out that such strategic silences by doctors surrounding terminal diagnoses are not limited to Japan (Harris, Shao, and Sugarman 2003;Rothman 1992).…”

CHAPTER 5. What Can Be Said?

“…Therefore, especially for patients with cancer, Japanese medical professionals regularly did not inform a patient of their diagnosis, and relied on family members to decide if the patient should be told. Although this system might seem distasteful or patronizing, it meshed with frankly paternalistic attitudes by doctors and a sense that the doctors were trained and able to bear the burden of terminal diagnoses (Annas and Miller 1994;Higuchi 1992). I thank my colleague China Scherz for pointing out that such strategic silences by doctors surrounding terminal diagnoses are not limited to Japan (Harris, Shao, and Sugarman 2003;Rothman 1992).…”