Physicians recommend different treatments for patients than they would choose for themselves.  The preceding statement is true according to a similarly titled article recently published in the Archives of Internal Medicine, and has, I will argue, important implications for how we view the doctor-patient relationship.

In the study, one group of physicians was asked to choose between two hypothetical treatment alternatives for either avian flu or colon cancer as …

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Do doctors have any business asking patients about whether or not they own a handgun?

Like many other paternalistic inquiries with which doctors routinely harass their patients (car seats, bicycle helmets, smoke alarms, etc), my answer to this question is “no.’”

There is a fairly well delineated sphere of knowledge which is medical in nature and in which I have some expertise and other topics which are purely personal, moral, or lifestyle considerations and in …

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