The Trusted Doctor

"Readers will appreciate the depth of reflection and insight that Rhodes brings with her from years of working at Mount Sanai. Rhodes' observations, especially regarding the special powers and privileges of medicine, provide a foundation for a fresh approach to medical ethics that takes seriously the distinctiveness of the profession. I hope that Rhodes' book sparks productive conversation in the field of bioethics for years to come." -- Caitlin Maples, Theoretical Medicine and Bioethics "Rhodes's duties-first account is both persuasive and practical. It resets the conversation about the source and scope of medical ethics. Focusing on the duties of medical professionals does not prevent consideration of a range of examples beyond individual patient encounters that she connects to medical professional obligations" -- Elizabeth Lanphier, Hastings Center Report "Common morality has been the touchstone of medical ethics since the publication of Beauchamp and Childress's Principles of Biomedical Ethics in 1979. Rosamond Rhodes challenges this dominant view by presenting an original and novel account of the ethics of medicine, one deeply rooted in the actual experience of medical professionals...Trust is the core and starting point of Rhodes' moral framework, which states that the most basic duty of doctors is to "seek trust and be trustworthy." -- Claire Clark, University of Kentucky's College of Medicine, New Books Network "Rhodes offers a powerful challenge to the field of bioethics to discard its long-standing approach to ethical problems in medicine of applying values drawn from common morality such as autonomy and beneficence to clinical matters. Instead, Rhodes argues compellingly, the ethics of medicine must be founded on the special powers, privileges, and immunities of medicine as a profession and the duty to exercise them in a manner that warrants patients' trust." -- Leslie Francis, University of Utah