In the Face of Suffering: The Philosophical-Anthropological Foundations of Clinical Ethics.

In contemporary health care ethics, respect for patient autonomy is often considered the primary ethical principle, trumping all others. Many health care ethicists and clinicians alike presume that it is impossible to make judgement about patients' best interests. Patients and their health care providers meet as moral strangers. Hence, the conventional wisdom is that clinical interactions should be based on a contractual relationship between two respectful but estranged people.