American Medical Authority

Medical Authority in Three Works Introduction The three texts I choose have painted a story about how the power and authority of a physician has transformed over the course of America’s history. The concept of authority defined by Lukes had influenced how Starr explained the American physician’s status, wealth, and authority. Starr discusses through the lens of authority the development of the American physician today. Finally, Mandel believes that we view the physician today as a mythic hero, and that it is a flawed view. Starr’s work outlining how the physician grew into a place of power has now changed into a place where it isn’t benefiting the patient now that the physician is so far removed from the patient. I chose Starr’s work because …show more content…
How that changed into us believing what the doctor told us involved the rise of professional sovereignty and Starr narrates that for us in his work. Texts Descriptions The Social Transformation of American Medicine by Paul Starr is a book that discusses the history of development of American medicine. Starr focuses on two main movements within this history: how medicine and the physician became a leading figure in American society and how medicine is turning into an industry by corporations and the state. Starr's main purpose for writing this book is to hope it helps explain the current problems surrounding our own health today, or at least during the time of writing. Starr explores this history through the lens of knowledge and authority, especially with regards to medicine and economic factors. He uses works on authority to analyze how the American physician becomes the authority in medicine and the factors that allow them. One of Starr’s ideas on medical authority was that it requires a surrender of judgment. It is also a compelling …show more content…
This weakens it as an objective analysis of the American physician since it uses those lenses. I think Starr’s arguments are very useful and informative. He examines the American physician through a sociologists’ perspective, especially on authority. Modern science is a very popular belief, being taught in schools and pushed everywhere, such as at RPI. The power it holds, and the professions related to it, are things we need to look at and examine. Starr’s second argument is also useful because during the COVID-19 pandemic, the authority of the medical profession was clearly seen as going beyond just a patient. Doctors were consulted when deciding the policy for America that affected millions of people’s lives. The Train of Thought Lukes first outlined authority in a situation. That situation has two parties. One party removes their private judgment, and the second party expects to be obeyed. The second party has their own reason (first order reason) to make a judgement on others. They have a claim to be obeyed. The first party accepts the reason (becoming second order reason) and then acts on the second’s judgement. The first party accepting the second order is turned into Luke’s authority over

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