Truth at the bedside in a historical overview

To tell the truth and withhold information were old topics in the history of medicine, whereas the term 'informed consent' appeared first in 1957. The historical development manifests different standpoints and central dimensions in the perspective of medicine as well as of theology, philosophy, arts, jurisprudence and psychology and with regard to diagnosis, etiology, prognosis and therapy. Physicians and patients are parts of their society and culture and are therefore depending on the dominant types of communication and concepts of health, disease and death.