Rothman's boo seems to be an ideal companion to the Starr book we read earlier this semester. Where Starr's book was a somewhat exhuastive study, Rothman's is a bit more focused. However, both authors are primarily intested in specific shifts in medicine and why they took place. Rothman points out that the relationship between doctor and patient went from being one of trust to doubt to distant to the point of "strangers" intervening.
Like Lauren, I was intrigued by the implications (or lack thereof to be more precise) of the Nazi experiments of WWII. Once again the Nazi's excesses mark them as exceptional, thereby allowing American researchers to distance themselves from comparisons. That the interest of the "homefront" in medical research during the war excused many unethical procedures is not suprising at all. Still, Rothman's use of of context is very effective in helping the reader understand the the shifts toward greater regulation of medicine and research.
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