A wise man once said: "Honesty is such a lonely word. Everyone is so untrue. Honesty is hardly ever heard. And mostly what I need from you."

Clearly, Billy Joel was talking about his doctor. As a survey published in this month's Health Affairs finds, doctors aren't always honest with their patients.

More than half admitted describing someone's prognosis in a way they knew was too rosy. Nearly 20 percent said they hadn't fully disclosed a medical mistake for fear of being sued. And one in 10 of those surveyed said they'd told a patient something that wasn't true in the past year.

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