Why doctors don't disclose uncertainty.

Katz examines physicians' reluctance to admit to uncertainty or to discuss it with patients. He sees this disregard or denial of uncertainty as one of the ways in which physicians impose order on complex and inexact situations. Professional pressures to conform to orthodox practice may also be responsible for an unwillingness or inability to discuss alternative therapies with patients. Fear that their effectiveness as healers will be compromised if a more open approach is attempted could explain why doctors continue in their authoritarian role. Katz concludes by urging physicians to consider the impact their attitude toward uncertainty has on the physician patient relationship.