Law Commons^™

Into The Hands Of Strangers, George J. Annas

Faculty Scholarship

Movie critic David Denby has asserted that American theatergoers are a "professional avant-garde audience" who "cannot be shocked by what others would find unintelligible... [and] have lost the capacity for outrage."' This analysis of American theater can be aptly applied to clinical medical education.

I assume almost every nonmedical professional reading "Death at a New York Hospital" will be horrified and outraged at the "treatment" Ms. Hewitt was subjected to in the hospital. Many physicians will too; but it is likely that more will be as understanding of the actions of the intern and residents as was Dr. A, the …