To Disclose or Not to Disclose: A Case Highlighting the Challenge of Conflicts in Pediatric Disclosure

Due to differences in opinion about patient autonomy and perceived maturity, discussing diagnosis and prognosis with children can be challenging. Shifting away from “never tell” and “always tell” approaches, recent articles have championed more nuanced case-by-case approaches to disclosure of information to children.1–4 Here we present the case of Ari (names have been changed for confidentiality), a ten-year-old with metastatic NUT (nuclear protein of the testis) carcinoma—a rare and aggressive tumor with poor prognosis,5,6—whose medical course was complicated by parental wishes to withhold diagnostic and prognostic information from their daughter.
Source: Journal of Pain and Symptom Management - Category: Palliative Care Authors: Source Type: research