Veatch, an eminent medical ethicist, addressed the concept of a contractual physician-patient relationship applied to research settings in The Patient as Partner: A Theory of Human-Experimentation Ethics (CH, Sep'87). In this new volume he applies it to routine clinical encounters. Cogent arguments are presented to show the inappropriateness of traditional authoritarian interactions for modern clinical encounters. Chapters examine patients' values, the concept of medical indications (which Veatch argues contains embedded values and biases), and application of the proposed model to malpractice, generic prescribing, use of investigational drugs, drug use for nonapproved purposes, placebos, access to medical records, and notions of confidentiality and duty. Part 3 of the book includes four chapters dealing with the principle of justice, too often neglected in American writings about medical ethics. The work concludes with chapters dealing with special problems: transplantation, guardianship, do-not-resuscitate orders, and ethics committees. The final chapter summarizes and discusses these concepts in the context of medicine's changing technology and culture. This outstanding discussion of important current medical issues is a valuable addition to academic and professional libraries.