I assess the ethical content of Philip Roth's account of his father's final years with, and death from, a tumor. I apply this to criticisms of the nature and content of case reports in medicine. I also draw some implications about modernism, postmodernism and narrative understandings.
Key words ethics - empathy - physicians' responsibility - delegating - case presentations - family - modernism - postmodernism - narrative
A version of the first two sections of this paper was presented at the annual meeting of the Society for Health and Human Values November 6, 1993, Washington, D.C.