“A Conspiracy of Silence.” Conclusion

Maimonides, the 12th-century philosopher and physician, advised his colleagues to treat patients not merely as the means to the acquisition of knowledge, but as valuable in themselves. Eight hundred years later, another physician, Dr. Albert M.Kligman, advised his colleagues and taught his students that “rules don’t apply to geniuses.”1 For Kligman, the benchmark of a successful career in medicine is medical knowledge and the wealth it can generate.