The American Medical Ethics Revolution: How the AMA's Code of Ethics Has Transformed Physicians' Relationships to Patients, Professionals and Society (review)

Abstract

Whether the Code of Ethics adopted by the fledgling American Medical Association in 1847, and its several successors, have in fact "transformed physicians' relationships," as the subtitle of this book claims, remains a point for debate. However, the book itself leaves little question that investigation and contemplation of the Code provide a strong stimulus for creative thought and conversation. Based on the example of the many and varied arguments displayed here, perhaps it would even be fair to say that discussion of the Code has the potential to transform the debates of contemporary biomedical ethics. This is an exceptionally good book, not because its contributors' conclusions are unassailable, but precisely because together they raise the right questions and keep the debates open and active. More than many other books about the ethics of medical practice and of health care generally, this one engenders the desire to know more, to think harder and in new ways about lingering conflicts and the assumptions that underlie them.