Power and responsibility in the practice of medicine

The evident power of the medical profession in the contemporary provision of health care requires a careful moral evaluation. The demand for professional autonomy may well lead to misuses of power. To illustrate the dangers of 'clinical freedom' and of the failure of the profession to monitor the actions of its members adequately, a case study is presented based on the recently published findings of a judicial inquiry into inadequate treatment of cervical cancer in Auckland, New Zealand. From this case study there emerge questions concerning professional autonomy, the autonomy of patients, and the need for a patient's advocate. These issues are assessed in light of the application to medical practice of the autonomy/heteronomy distinction in moral theory. Finally, three theological themes are briefly related to the issues which have emerged: the nature of agape, the limitations of human moral authority and the vision for humankind contained in the doctrines of incarnation and redemption.