In today’s era of respect for patient autonomy and right to choose their own treatment, it seems clear that deliberately keeping a person’s diagnosis from them is strangely paternalistic and an old notion from a different time. After all, we believe a patient should be involved in the management of their own care, and how can they do so if they don’t even what they’re receiving treatment for? Yet, in certain cases, the better option appears to be withholding knowledge of the diagnosis from patient, such as in the case of the 9-year-old end-stage kidney disease and AIDS patient and letting her know about her AIDS diagnosis. One of the most important things to consider is her age, and how immature and unknowledgeable she is even after going
