In some cultures, health professionals may believe that truth-telling can become an insincere act if their patient were to lose hope after learning of his or her disease. The concept of protective medicine practiced in some parts of the world proposes that the psychological relationship of the patient to their disease is so significant that patients should be protected from all unpleasant stimuli (including the truth about their condition) which might retard the healing process. In Western biomedicine, the right of the patient and patient autonomy is upheld at all times. Conflict occurs when the patient’s family wishes to withhold information from the patient.
