Guidance where there has been little
Timothy Joos, MD, MPH, a pediatrician who practices at a community health center in Seattle, who was not part of the recommendation team, said he was glad to see the AAP issue advice on a complex topic for which there is little practical guidance.
The authors’ case examples were “heart-tugging,” he said, and will help pediatricians work through their own scenarios.
Dr. Joos agreed with the overall premise that the default should be sharing the information.
“One of the foundations of medicine is truthfulness and openness and if we depart from that, we really have to have a good reason,” Dr. Joos said.
He said that since lying to patients should be nonnegotiable for any physician, it may help to talk with the parents first before answering an inquisitive patient’s questions and then have all parties gather for a discussion.
The authors note that AAP’s clinical reports are written by medical experts and reflect the latest evidence. The reports go through several rounds of peer review before they can be approved by the AAP board of directors.
The authors and Dr. Joos report no relevant financial relationships.