Barron H. Lerner

Barron H. Lerner is an internist, historian of medicine, and bioethicist who has taught medicine and population health at NYU. The Good Doctor uses his physician father’s journals and both men’s clinical experience to examine the changing balance between medical authority and patient autonomy. Beacon Press published the book in 2014 and issued a paperback in 2015. Lerner compares his own training in informed consent with his father’s more paternal approach, then tests those positions against difficult family decisions and the pressures of technology-heavy care. The result is both a family history and an inquiry into how doctors should combine professional judgment, empathy, and respect for a patient’s wishes. Lerner’s work on ethics and medical history gives the book its dual personal and scholarly perspective.