It's difficult to judge from a twenty year old story, but certainly these days patients do not have any information hidden from them. I had a family member with cancer, and the doctors were very clear that an operation might get all the cancer, but that they could not guarantee anything.

They left the decision in our hands, and in many ways that's not better - how on earth are we supposed to decide? They also can't tell you with any certainty what the after-effects will be because no-one knows.