omes, and forms of treatment. To do otherwise would cause a great disservice to the patient and results in distrust towards the practitioner. The need for full disclosure it not limited to just individuals providing healthcare, but includes those who manage informational medical sites, both professional and consumer base. The hi-tech world calls upon stricter observance of ethical standards. Inappropriate and incorrect information, regardless of delivery, can have devastatingeffects. To aid in protecting the web site consumer, the Internet Healthcare Coalition was formed. "Just as the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors, founded in 1978, has set the standards for how medical journal authors and editors should behave, the leaders of the e-health information enterprise should now set common standards forethical behavior." (Jasket, 1999). Lastly, healthcare consumers need to be instructed to evaluate the source of information, and not just blindly trust the written word. As it has been and will continue to be, educating the healthcare consumer or patient remains a primary objective. The telling of the truth to patients in terms of diagnosis, outcome, possibilities ofoutcomes and/or probability of outcomes are all areas that we are familiar with in terms of patient-physician relationship and patient-nurse relationship. The code of the American Nurses Association states: "Clients have a moral right...to be given accurate information."(3) There are several areas that patients are given information about areas they might not know to ask about. A pertinent example has to do with medications. The older neuroleptics are more likely to cause tardive dyskinesia, which is an irreversible type of movement disorder. In the 1960's these were the only drugs available and patients were given informed consent about the possible side effects. There were also major problems in the area of fertility and women becoming ...
