'Bad news' has been defined as any information which adversely and seriously affects an individual's view of his or her future; whether news is bad or not can only be in the eye of the beholder.1 The news may be cancer but it may equally be Parkinson's disease, rheumatoid arthritis, schizophrenia, psoriasis, diabetes or any other life-altering disease. It may be about a child who has a serious condition. One study found that 50% of parents were dissatisfied with the way they were told about their child's congenital deafness.2
This is a companion discussion topic for the original article at https://patient.info/doctor/primary-care/breaking-bad-news