A new study revealed doctors are witholding information from patients such as their financial ties with drug companies.

Despite wide institutional acceptance of a medical professionalism charter that endorses openness and honesty in physicians’ interactions with patients, not all doctors comply, according to a survey whose results are published in the February 2012 issue of Health Affairs, released today.

Researchers surveyed more than 1,800 physicians from around the country, working in a variety of specialties, to ask about how they perceive and handle patient communications.

Nearly 35 percent of respondents said they did not "completely agree" that they should disclose serious medical errors to their patients, and approximately 20 percent said they had not revealed a mistake to a patient in the last year because they feared being sued.

More than a third of physicians did not completely agree that they should disclose all financial ties with drug and device companies to patients, even though such ties can influence treatment.   Just over one-tenth said that, in the previous year, they had told patients something that was not true.
http://healthaffairs.org/blog/2012/02/08/new-health-affairs-some-physicians-not-always-honest-with-patients/

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/02/08/patient-communication-study-doctors-truth_n_1263171.html

Doctor discipline: State fails to offer full disclosure.
http://www.startribune.com/lifestyle/wellness/138752344.html