The ‘Medscape Ophthalmology’ recently published this excellent article by Arthur L. Caplan PhD (Director, Division of Medical Ethics, New York University Langone Medical Center) in its 23rd April 2019 journal titled: “No, Patients Are NOT Consumers, and MDs Are NOT Providers,” written to bolster similar comments made in an article by a New York bioethics think tank, the Hastings Center regarding the commercialisation of healthcare.
“In our healthcare system, more and more, the language of business is shaping and changing descriptions of what doctor-patient encounters are all about,” observes Dr. Caplan and this, as highlighted by the Hastings scholars, could distort the relationship between patient and doctor by implying that the parameters of that and those of a consumer and provider are the same, when they are not.