Abstract

TruthTruth-telling is a core valueValues in medical ethics, and its importance has only grown in recent decades with the increased focus on patient-centered care. How and whether to inform children about aspects of their health care, however, is even more complex. In this chapter, using an example case, the authors describe some of the ethical underpinnings of truthTruth-telling both in pediatrics and more generally, as well as important features of the disclosureDisclosure of health care information to children. They then provide arguments both for and against withholding informationWithholding information from children when that is requested by parentsParents, examining some common arguments made for each of these strategies in the literature and in clinical practice. After touching upon unique considerations regarding disclosureDisclosure of different types of information to minorsMinor, the authors close by providing practical guidance on how clinicians can respond when parentsParents explicitly request to not tell their child information about their health and/or health care.