Let me sketch the program of this paper at the outset. I will begin with some scene setting: a brief account of the crisis in medicine. Then I will pose a problem: the need for a theoretical model of medicine in terms of which to approach the crisis. I will go on to analyze the problem in terms of some of the fundamental concepts involved in the construction of the theoretical model — specifically, the nature of medical knowledge, and the rights, risks and responsibilities which are involved in its acquisition, possession, and use. Finally, I will suggest the direction of a resolution of the crisis, in terms of the theoretical model. In effect, I am offering a foray into some conceptual philosophical muddles which characterize the systematic thought concerning these questions.