A culture of honesty in clinical research and practice for the happiness of patients

Abstract

Respect for others is the essence of humanism. Medical caregivers should treat all patients and their family with respect and regard for their worth and dignity. Honesty is the highest standards of behavior for medical caregivers or researchers. Withholding medical information from patients and their family without their knowledge or consent is ethically unacceptable. We should give them all information that we could know in many situations to obtain their informed consent so that they could make fair decisions. What kind of medical care to receive is a matter to be determined by patients themselves, because medicine has been resisting against the laws of nature historically. Therefore, communication is crucial to provide the best care for patients. Similarly, in medical research, dishonesty adversely affects investigators, clinicians, patients and their family in various situations. We must be aware that the goal of research is to develop new findings not for researchers nor for research itself but only for the patients. We have to accomplish faithful medical practice and clinical research with honesty.