In his influential 1803 text Medical Ethics, the English physician Thomas Percival described the doctor’s role as “the minister of hope and comfort to the sick,” noting that at times they should conceal alarming information from their patients. A patient’s life, Percival wrote, can be shortened not only by a doctor’s acts, but also by his words and manner.
在1803年的名著《医学伦理学》（Medical Ethics）中，英国医生托马斯·帕茨瓦尔（Thomas Percival）将医生的角色描述为“希望使者，患者福音”，指出有时他们应该隐瞒警示信息不让患者知道。患者的生命，帕茨瓦尔写道，不但可能因为医生的行动而缩短，也可能因为他的言辞和方式而缩短。