Mr. F is a 59-year-old taxi driver who has been admitted to hospital with severe iron-deficiency anemia. After his condition is stabilized by means of a blood transfusion, and an endoscopy is ordered, the attending physician tells Mr. F that he will “have a test” because “he must be bleeding from the bowel.” As he is being wheeled down the hall to the endoscopy suite, the physician calls out: “You have to have this test before you can go home.” The endoscopist arrives at the same time as Mr. F.

Ms. G is a 38-year-old mother of two young children. She is an outpatient at a mental health facility where she is finishing up a program for an addiction to painkillers. She is in the midst of a bitter custody battle with her former husband, who is insisting that she sign a consent form to release her health records to him for the purpose of the custody hearing. She is scared that her husband may try to use the information against her, and that she will lose her children. Nevertheless, her social worker has told her she needs to accept responsibility for her addiction and the only way to do that is to share all details of her treatment with her husband.