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Provoking Nonepileptic Seizures: The Ethics of Deceptive Diagnostic Testing
Author(s) -
Burack Jeffrey H.,
Back Anthony L.,
Pearlman Robert A.
Publication year - 1997
Publication title -
hastings center report
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.515
H-Index - 63
eISSN - 1552-146X
pISSN - 0093-0334
DOI - 10.2307/3528776
Subject(s) - deception , suspect , psychology , test (biology) , psychiatry , diagnostic test , malingering , psychotherapist , medicine , clinical psychology , social psychology , pediatrics , paleontology , criminology , biology
The use of deception in medical care is highly suspect in this country. Yet there is one condition for which deception is often used as a diagnostic tool. Nonepileptic seizures, a psychiatric condition in which emotional or psychological conflicts manifest themselves unconsciously through bodily symptoms, are currently diagnosed by a procedure called “provocative saline infusion.” The test is fundamentally deceptive, requiring the physician to intentionally and directly lie to the patient, causing the patient to believe that the administered solution caused his seizures. Without such deception, the test might be useless.