The Silent World of Doctor and Patient [Paperback]

Jay Katz (Author), Alexander Morgan Capron (Foreword)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 10, 2002

In this eye-opening look at the doctor-patient decision-making process, physician and law professor Jay Katz examines the time-honored belief in the virtue of silent care and patient compliance. Historically, the doctor-patient relationship has been based on a one-way trust—despite recent judicial attempts to give patients a greater voice through the doctrine of informed consent. Katz criticizes doctors for encouraging patients to relinquish their autonomy, and demonstrates the detrimental effect their silence has on good patient care. Seeing a growing need in this age of medical science and sophisticated technology for more honest and complete communication between physician and patients, he advocates a new, informed dialogue that respects the rights and needs of both sides.

In a new foreword to this edition of The Silent World of Doctor and Patient, Alexander Morgan Capron outlines the changes in medical ethics practice that have occurred since the book was first published in 1984, paying particular attention to the hotly debated issues of physician-assisted suicide and informed consent in managed care.

Editorial Reviews

Review

A remarkable book... Goes a long way towards ending the silence that ultimately dehumanizes both doctor and patient.

(Business Week )

What gives this book unusual power is Dr. Katz's understanding of the historical origins of doctors' silence and his perceptive analysis of the relationship between doctor and patient that has led to this silent state.

(Wall Street Journal )

Jay Katz's poetic manifesto... will no doubt long be noted as a milestone on the rehumanization effort.

(New England Journal of Medicine )

A thoughtful analysis of the doctor-patient relationship and informed consent: clearly a labor of love based on years in medicine, law, psychiatry, and psychoanalysis.

(New Physician )

As compelling and vital as it was when it appeared two decades ago. Tragically its critique of contemporary medicine still is right... A classic. It merits attention and discussion.

(Stanley J. Reiser, MD, MPA, PhD Journal of the American Medical Association )

A much-needed addition to the bioethical canon.

(Syd M. Johnson Metapsychology )

About the Author

Jay Katz, M.D., is Elizabeth Dollard Professor Emeritus of Law, Medicine, and Psychiatry and Harvey L. Karp Professional Lecturer in Law and Psychoanalysis at Yale University. Alexander Morgan Capron, is University Professor, Henry W. Bruce Professor of Equity, Professor of Medicine, and the Co-Director of the Pacific Center for Health Policy and Ethics at the University of Southern California.

Product Details

• Paperback: 320 pages
• Publisher: The Johns Hopkins University Press (October 10, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0801857805
• ISBN-13: 978-0801857805
• Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 5.9 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #339,119 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

32 of 35 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Are patients informed about their health care? Not always., August 5, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: The Silent World of Doctor and Patient (Paperback)

I read this book years ago, and came to Amazon.com to try to purchase it. How delighted I am to see that it is being reprinted for publication.

Though it was written a long time ago, its central conclusion is still valid. All too often, patients are not fully informed about health care interventions recommended to them by doctors. Thus, they often choose to undergo treatments that subject them to painful, demoralizing consequences that they were just not told could happen. Katz's examples may seem dated. For example, how many of us even remember the daily news reports of Dr. Barney Clark's tragic events after he became the first man to receive an artificial heart. But the paternalism he describes, the failure to trust that people can make good choices regarding their personal health care when fully informed still exists as we approach the millenium. How else to explain the hue and outcry when an NIH consensus conference failed to simply recommend mammograms ! for women aged 40 to 49? When they recommended that doctors talk to their patients, and that the patients then decide for themselves what is best for them, they were lambasted. To me, the world of doctor and patient is still all too often silent. And as the mammography example demonstrates, those who advocate breaking the silence are often treated badly.

The Silent World of Doctor and Patient is well-written. It discusses the all too common failure of doctors to fully inform their patients about the risks they undertake when they recommend treatments. It tries to explain why such is the case. It reveals the sometimes horrible consequences that can befall patients when medical treatment goes awry.

I highly recommend this book, especially to medical students, doctors in training, and all who believe that patients should be fully informed about the medical care that has the power to harm as well as to heal.