Breaking the News: The Role of the Physician

Abstract

Janet and Marc thought their life was as close to perfection as any family’s life could be. Married for 8 years, they had one daughter, Missy, age 5, and Brian, age 3 months, their long-awaited son. At Brian’s 3-month routine well-baby checkup, the pediatrician remarked that Brian might have strabismus because his eyes appeared to turn in and weren’t “working together,” as Janet later described it. The pediatrician was very reassuring, however, and told Marc and Janet that he would like the baby to be examined by a pediatric ophthalmologist “just to be on the safe side.” Marc had recently started a new and more responsible job so it was decided that Janet would take Brian for the eye examination herself, to minimize the amount of time Marc was away from the office.