Nowadays, this kind of medical paternalism is no longer the rule in many countries. To avoid exposing themselves to claims of negligence or even, in rare cases, criminal assault, doctors must disclose an ever increasing amount of information, however bleak, about treatment risks, benefits, and alternatives, enabling the patient to give “informed consent.”
如今，这类医疗家长作风（medical paternalism）在许多国家已不再是通行做法。为了避免深陷玩忽职守指控——甚至偶尔出现的刑事攻击——医生必须披露越来越多关于治疗风险、收益和替代疗法的信息，不管它们多么令人绝望，从而让患者能够给出“知情同意”。