Palliative Care in Lung Cancer

Empathy-Based Ethics in Medical Practice

“…This version of Helen's story highlights unfortunate outcomes of a strictly biomedical approach to patient care. After being provided with overwhelming amounts of information relating to the cancer, drug treatments and side effects, Helen opts for chemotherapy with the mistaken belief that there is a chance of cure (Aragon 2020).…”

“…Helen's general practitioner, Dr. Woods, has handed over her medical care to the oncologist, so has not had any conversations to explore her values and concerns about her cancer. Dr. Woods is doubtful about the value of palliative chemotherapy, but is aware of her own lack of knowledge in this rapidly advancing field (Aragon 2020).…”

“…In this scenario, Helen and her family were more involved in decisions about her care. From the outset, her GP explored her values and goals of care, which led to agreed aims, improved understanding of prognosis and improved quality of life near the end of life (Aragon 2020).…”

“…or as it transpired, did she want to live to see her children through their exams and to reach university? Allowing for silence and being empathic are ways to show support when delivering prognostic information that should be initiated early for patients with advanced lung cancer (Aragon 2020).…”

“…Discussions about prognosis may be avoided, as in the first scenario, or be provided in a detrimental way, and like any difficult conversation should be introduced and discussed in a sensitive empathic way (Aragon 2020). Prognosis inherently has a high level of uncertainty, which needs to be acknowledged as Dr. Woods communicated in the second scenario.…”