Over the last fifty years, British patients have been made into consumers. Since the 1960s, concepts common within consumerism have found a place in health policy and practice. In a short space of time, the position of patients in Britain appears to have changed fundamentally. Until relatively recently, it was not uncommon for patients to be told little about the condition that they were suffering from or its likely outcome. That such a situation would be (almost) inconceivable today points not only to changes in the doctorpatient relationship, but also to a wider shift in the way in which...