Pathologizing Pathos: Suffering, Technocentrism, and Law in Twentieth-Century American Medicine.

This article examines the development and global influence of American physician Eric Cassell’s theory of suffering, which reframed suffering as a diagnosable clinical entity distinct from pain and deeply connected to threats against a person’s integrity. Emerging in the late twentieth century amid rising medical malpractice lawsuits and the legal codification of informed consent, Cassell’s work responded to new demands for truth-telling in medicine and emphasized patient autonomy as central to addressing suffering. The article highlights how Cassell’s theory, while rooted in bioethical philosophy, was significantly shaped—often unconsciously—by legal concepts of pain and suffering prevalent in malpractice law and the civil rights movement’s emphasis on personhood. It also situates Cassell’s contributions within broader interdisciplinary and cultural shifts in American and global medicine, underscoring the need for further historical research on the medico-legal dynamics and cross-cultural reception of suffering in clinical care.