Fathers—good for families, bad for patients?

This year in the UK, doctors have faced resounding criticism from the media and parliamentarians (although patients still seem quite kindly disposed towards their physicians). Two words crop up with monotonous regularity, so I have sought to assist readers by quoting their meanings as offered in The New Shorter Oxford English Dictionary (Oxford: OUP, 1993).

Paternal: of, pertaining to, or characteristic of a father or fathers.

Paternalism: the principle or practice of behaving in a paternal manner towards others, specifically the claim or attempt by a government, company etc., to take responsibility for the welfare of its people or to regulate their life for their benefit.*Medical paternalism, which has a long history, has become a subject of extreme obloquy. I am more than a little puzzled, being lucky to have had a father who taught me a valuable moral and ethical code and whose actions always appeared designed for the benefit of his family. Probably many of our colleagues have had equal good fortune, so it is hardly surprising that we have attempted to mimic this behaviour when dealing with distressed patients. This year we have learned, with discomfiture and surprise, that such …