There's that literary device again...
If the physican actually had time to get to know his wealth generators (read patients) and their families, the physician could use his own judgement about whether or not anything should be said to the parents.
I hope that now you know how to interpret this sentence, Amy.
;-)
jb4
shrub●bish (Am., from shrub + rubbish, after the derisive name for America's 43 president; 2003) n. 1. a form of nonsensical political doubletalk wherein the speaker attempts to defend the indefensible by lying, obfuscation, or otherwise misstating the facts; GIBBERISH. 2. any of a collection of utterances from America's putative 43rd president. cf. BULLSHIT