The cost of careless talk

My patient, Mr T, was a middle aged man with hepatitis C, cirrhosis, a history of alcoholism and intravenous drug use, and a great sense of humor. He came to me with a bacterial peritonitis and a possible gastrointestinal bleed. He didn’t look too good, and I was happy to learn that he was on the waiting list for a liver transplant. Although the team did our best to control his symptoms in the hospital, a transplant was the only cure.

We got along well and he soon became my favourite patient to visit every morning. He would make requests that only I draw his blood, and I would enjoy running errands for him, like tracking down a ginger ale or buying him a banana when he said it was the only thing he could hold down.

One day, he requested that I call his friend to notify him