Patient, Heal Thyself How the New Medicine Puts the Patient in Charge

"The change is in how we think about medical decision-making. Whereas modern medicine's core idea was that medical decisions should be based on the cold, hard facts of science-the province of the doctor-the "new medicine" reflects the notion that all medical decisions must impose value judgments. Since physicians can claim no expertise on making those value judgments, the pendulum has swung greatly toward the patient in evaluating alternatives and making decisions about their treatment." "Veatch uses a range of fascinating contemporary and historical examples to reveal how values underlie almost all medical procedures, and illustrate his case that this change is inevitable and a positive trend for patients."--BOOK JACKET.