Obligation

This book explores the shifting nature of physicianpatient relationship in China. Specifically, it takes the physicianpatient relationship during the barefoot doctor program in 19681978, the marketization of healthcare in 19782002, and the healthcare reform in 20032020 as three historical periods, illustrating how the nature of the physicianpatient relationship has changed over time. Analyzing the ways in which law and social policiesinvolving the doctrine of informed consent, public hospital reform, and systemic healthcare reformhave in different ways shaped and changed the practices of physicians and patients, which illustrates how the bond between them threatens to collapse. With a uniquely vivid depiction of Chinese healthcare issues, this book will interest sociologists, China scholars and more.