Doctors, surgeons and hospitals were under a crossfire of criticism last week, some of it from within the medical profession itself. Items:
¶ Psychologist Ernest Dichter, specialist in motivational research"MR" to Madison Avenue clients (TIME, May 13)probed the motives of both doctor and patient, told a forum of 1,000 physicians in Washington that they should abandon the "father image" role of the old-style family doctor. Dichter advised: "Accept the fact that today's patient has grown up and can read current medical articles," and treat him more as an equal. This goes for fees, too: the doctor should quit thinking of himself as...