European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - September 11, 1978, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Page 18 the stars and stripes monday september 11, 1978 by Michael Halberstam . I modern Medicine  Book urges physicians to Tell patients the truth we All esteem the truth yet we All lie. Usu ally we consider ourselves truthful the lying we do we like to believe is not for our Sake but to help others. Thus parents lie when asked to judge the Beauty and creativity of something a child has done friends lie when asked to comment about a new hat or dress and doctors lie when asked to gauge the seriousness or prognosis of an  All these instances the liar excuses him self on the grounds that what has been said Isa White lie something designed to ease another s feelings or to smooth the social Contact of everyday life. In these situations most of us feel that absolute truth telling in t  Bok disagrees and in her fascinating new Book lying she explains what she believes is the continuity Between simple social White lies and Plain outright , who is a professor of social ethics at har Vard has devoted her Well written volume Toa study of both the philosophic and practical implications of lying. She finds very few excuses for lying even in situations where most human beings would feel the absolute truth i unnecessary. Professor Bok became interested in the subject because of an interest in medical ethics and much of her Book is devoted to specific examples of truth telling in the medical context. She Points out something few other writers have noted that none of the major oaths to which physicians in our country an others throughout the years have Given Alle Giance have made truth telling an important or even pertinent criterion. The famous hip acne medication May increase skin cancer risk Washington a Retinol a acid widely prescribed acne treatment May in crease the risk of getting skin cancer from sunlight the food and drug administration  using the medication should avoid or minimize the skin s exposure to the Sun or sunlamps the Fra said in a drug bulletin sent to one million doctors and other health professionals. The Fra said the skin cancer warning was based on the preliminary results of a Temple University study on  acid known generically As Tretis Noin is sold by Johnson & Johnson under the Brand name retin a. It is not an ingredient in acne treatments sold without  Fra said it does not know yet whether applying a sunscreen can make it Safe for person who used the medication to stay in the  the Temple study hairless mice were treated with Retinol a acid and exposed to simulated sunlight. About 80 percent developed multiple skin tutors compared with Only six percent of those exposed to simulated sunlight alone and none of those who were not treated were exposed to sunlight. In the same drug bulletin the Fra said that doctors or nurses who Are or May become pregnant should avoid using  scrubs. It suggested they use substitutes As an interim precaution while i checks out a recent swedish study on Hospital personnel that reported a link Between hex a Chloroprene and human birth defects. The Fra said it has been in touch wit swedish department of drugs officials who have serious reservations about the study be cause of its technical  the Fra said it will Send a team to Sweden shortly to review the study and that it also expects to receive another swedish report that reportedly found no evidence of increased birth defects from hex Chloroprene. Until the matter is resolved the Fra said it would be prudent for female Hospital staff who May become pregnant to use the Avail Able substitutes. Hex Chloroprene has been on the Market since the 1940s, but scientists discovered in the Early 1970s that repeated use could Lead to significant Levels of the chemical in the users  French study found that infants Acci dentally exposed to High concentrations  in Talcum powder suffered brain damage the Fra noted. In 1972, the Agency banned non prescription uses of it. Socratic oath places Many duties upon the physician but not to Tell the truth. Bok exam Ines the reasons Why physicians Are less than candid in dealing with patients and finds them  a practising physician i confess that i Don t always Tell the truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth " to my patients. I Don t lie to Many patients yet there Are time when i emphasize one part of the Story at the expense of another. If a patient has cancer Itell the patient unless he or she has directly asked me not to do so. If nine out of 10 patient with this particular form of cancer Are dead within the year however i will not dwell on that statistic but rather on the fact that some patients even if Only 10 percent May live longer. When a patient comes in with symptom Sand has yet to be completely diagnosed i Don t usually share All the diagnostic possibilities with the patient particularly if these in clude malignant or incurable disease. To byway of thinking there is no need for him or her to worry about Bridges that May never have Tobe crossed. If the patient specifically asks about the possibility of malignancy i will indeed admit that the possibility exists but again i emphasize that the diagnosis has yet been made. Bok feels that physicians who think the Yare sparing their patients or helping them by evading the truth Are deceiving themselves not the patients. She Points out that once deceived patients May not believe the doctor even when the truth is told. It is a myth she declares that some patients go into a deep de pression or even commit suicide when told they have a malignancy. This danger has indeed probably been exaggerated but All physicians know that Hope is an essential ingredient not Only in fighting specific disease but in living a decent and humane life. There Are few people who can look the Sun and their own death directly in the Eye but most of us need some shielding from both these horrendous events. It in t surprising that physicians oath through the centuries have Given Little importance to absolute truth telling. The cure an Comfort of the patient As opposed to a set of ethical absolutes Are the physician s main responsibility. For this reason physicians Are Likely to disagree with professor Bok demand for strict truth telling although her Brilliant analysis should bring us closer to the Day when patients and physicians will be Able to Exchange total Mutual Confidence. C new York times across 1 chalices 5 relatives 8 Buddhist language 12 european shark 13 nigerian tribe 14 eager 15 scent 16 kind of employment 18 ostentatious teacher 20 Christian female disciple 21 size of Type 23 menu item 24 participate 28 pilaster 31 brazilian Macaw 32 assumed name 34 negative particle 35 decades 37 chief portion 39 Haw s opposite 41 Blackthorn fruit 42 virtuous 45 titania s husband 49 tend the coiffure 51 Tennis term 52 medicinal Plant 53 abbr. On map 54 French Summers 55 Chimney dirt 56 guided 57 fender Hazard avg. Solution Down Lupon 2 manner 3 footless 4 mexican Blanket 5 stayed Cool 6 Cantor or Lupino 7 French department 8 natural habitat Zool 9 arabian physician 10 City in Ohio time 27 min. Sines so sigh 9-11 answer to saturday s Puzzle. 11 Caesar s fatal Date 17 child s toy 19 Palm drink 22 opera features 24 make lace 25 land measure 26 australian Marsupial 27 specially fitted 29 High Hill 30 siamese Coin 33 social climber 36 sextet music 38 skinned 40 Anglo Saxon letter 42 auditors 43 Nimbus 44 Nobleman 48 noise of surf on Shore 47 hop Kiln 48 cozy place 50 native of a suffix today s crossword 18 12 19 it to 25 21 3 19 52 10 16 37 22 to so 20 27 17 23 28 38 51 St to 10 29 t8 9-Il Clorann Landers Ann Landers i picked up a paperback at the Airport recently called the jewish connection by m. Hirsh Goldberg. In that Book there s a very funny bit that was attributed to your column. I never miss your part of the Pape Cand Don t recall seeing it. The Story is so incredible i d like to hear directly from you if it s on the  to the Way Hirsch Goldberg tells it you received Aletter about a Kosher English set Ter named  dog had lived in a jewish household the first four months of his life. Not Only did the dog refuse to eat meat that was t Kosher but his master had to put a yiddish newspaper under the bowl. Retried both the Chicago Sun times and the Wall Street journal but Leviticus could t be fooled. He would t eat the meat. That let Ter was signed right Side  you responded by citing newspaper item published in the Toronto Star about a Kosher cat owned by rabbi Lewis Farrell. The cat seemed to know the jew ish dietary Laws because he re fused to drink his milk when meat was served. Tell me Ann did this Ever appear in your column of so when a septic dear sep yes in september 1973. You must have been out of town. Dear Ann Landers i have been married less than a year. I wonder How Many other Youn brides have this problem. My husband seems to think he need two nights of Freedom every week to enjoy himself with his single friends. I have begged him to take me with him but he says the Guys Don t like to have a wife tagging along. I would t mind one night week but i think two nights is one too Many. Besides he usually comes Home late and drunk. We tried a trial separation butt did t last Long. We love each other so much it almost drove us crazy. I m desperate in . Obviously your Hus band wants the advantages of marriage along with the fun of being  have two choices resign yourself to a lifetime with a Man who will never Stop running around or separate again this time stay apart until he takes his marriage vows seriously. I degree to one night with the Guys no dolls every two weeks but that should be the Lim it. Dear Ann the Correct pronunciation of february is a tempest in a Teapot. What really irritates me is people who say Hanve  no one says Ahn close or Ahn Force or Ahn dear so Why on Earth do so Many Intelli gent people say Ahn veloce irked in Santa Barbaradea irk maybe the reason so Many intelligent people say Ahn veloce is because it is just As Correct As  Don t say Ahn close or Ahn Force or Ahn dear be cause the proper pronunciation of these words is enclose enforce and  letter will be the last about pet peeves pertaining to pronunciation. They Are getting to be a pain in the Shanny. C 1978 Field enter poles inc