The Doctor's Story, being Sentence of Death

"SOONER or later," began the Doctor, settling himself comfortably in his chair, "it comes to most of us. Sooner or later a man or a woman comes to consult us on what they imagine to be some trifling malady, and when we make our examination we find that it isn't trifling. And occasionally we find that not only is the matter not trifling, but that-well, you all have seen Collier's picture, ‘The Sentence of Death.'

"It's a thing, incidentally, which requires careful thought-just how much you will tell. Different people take things different ways, and where it might be your duty to tell one man the half-truth, to another it might be just as much your duty to lie. But broadly speaking, I, personally, have always maintained that, unless the circumstances are quite exceptional, it is a doctor's duty to tell a patient the truth, however unpleasant it may be. What would a man say if his lawyer or his stockbroker lied to him?