Jonsen (medical history and ethics, U. of Washington Medical School) addresses the conflict between altruism and self-interest, which he believes is built into

A physician says, "I have an ethical obligation never to cause the death of a patient," another responds, "My ethical obligation is to relieve pain even if the

Smith has packed an incredible amount of information into this relatively short and clearly written book. His erudition is unquestionable, and his knowledge of

"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 f