Doctors could do a better job of breaking bad news: study

By Andrew M. Seaman NEW YORK (Reuters Health) – Less than half of German people who are told they have cancer through a set and accepted protocol for breaking bad news are satisfied with the conversation, according to a new study. “The idea was somehow that physicians will ‘naturally’ have the ability to communicate,” Dr. Carola Seifart wrote in an email. For example, the diagnosis of a new cancer or a negative development with an existing cancer can significantly change a person’s view of the future. While SPIKES has been tested in the U.S., the researchers write that it has not been tested in Germany and there is little information on how bad news is broken there.