Physicians as Advocates
Houston Law Review, 1999
Posted: 2 Dec 1998
Abstract
As American health care shifts from a purely professional structure to a system dominated by corporate and government interests, physicians increasingly style themselves "advocates" for patients. It is a professionally attractive image, which the public wholeheartedly endorses and which courts and regulators are attempting to impose as a legal duty. This article suggests that those seeking "advocacy" in a health care system increasingly beset by conflict over resource allocation have a more adversarial construct in mind than physicians typically envision. The article analyzes legal advocacy as a model for health care, and concludes that efforts by both the profession and the public to create a lawyer-like role for physicians are fundamentally misguided.
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