Medicina veritatis: The Multi-Faceted Relationship between Truth and Medicine

Abstract

This paper seeks to address the relationship between truth and medicine. It starts from a recognition of the fundamental importance of truth and of truthfulness in the Christian tradition and in fostering respect for human dignity and building up society more generally. The debate in Catholic moral theology about truth-telling in situations of conflict provides a background for a consideration of the responsibilities of medical personnel, of relatives and of others for the communication of truth to the patient. Truth-telling appears as a multi-dimensional reality, touching all areas of medical activity and of scientific research in the medical field. Explicit attention is given to clinical research in this context. The concentration upon oncology stems from a pastoral recognition of the number of lives affected by tumours as well as from the fact that the moral issues at stake emerge more starkly when frequently lethal pathologies are considered. The main contributions of this paper would be to show the wide variety of ways in which truth and truthfulness impinge and should impinge upon medicine and to argue that truth is itself medicinal at the intra-personal, the inter-personal and the transcendental levels of suffering human life.