About this Event
Family physician and medical cultural critic Dr. Zed Zha discusses her book Consented: A Doctor's Call to End Medical Violence and Reclaim Patient Autonomy, a physician’s bold critique of medical rape culture—and her call for a new model of care that centers consent and empowers patients. It is a groundbreaking look at how the healthcare industry ignores patients’ agency and perpetuates violence. She is joined by physician, educator, and activist Dr. Lisa Erlanger.
Medical culture has a problem with consent—and it’s not just a few bad doctors. That’s the conclusion of Dr. Zed Zha in Consented, a groundbreaking look at how the healthcare industry ignores patients’ agency and perpetuates violence.
Even the best and most caring doctors can fall prey to what Dr. Zha identifies as medical rape culture: a system of beliefs and practices that enable and normalize the violation of patients’ autonomy. Dr. Zha shows how this culture is historically entrenched—from the invention of the speculum to eugenics—and argues that we need a sea change in our healthcare system to stop repeating the same mistakes. She interlaces these hidden histories of medicine with first-hand patient stories and her own personal journey, identifying four key problems of consent within medical practice:
- Non-consent (“Doctors know what’s best for the patient.”)
- Forced consent (“If patients are noncompliant, their voices cease to matter.”)
- Inadequate consent (“Doctors can decide what patients need to know.”)
- Contractual consent (“Sign here, then forever hold your peace.”)
This fundamental misunderstanding of consent robs patients of the right to control what happens to their own bodies, and can cause serious harm. Instead, Dr. Zha offers a radical new vision of medical consent culture—one that embraces collectivity, accessibility, and compassion. This provocative book will validate anyone who has felt ignored, gaslight, or violated in the doctor’s office and inspire those working in the healthcare system to push for change.
Zed Zha, MD, is a physician, writer, and medical cultural critic. In her book Consented: A Doctor’s Call to End Medical Violence and Reclaim Patient Autonomy (North Atlantic Books, 2026), she argues that what medicine calls “consent” is often anything but, and calls for a reimagining of care rooted in autonomy, transparency, and trust. She writes Ask The Patient, a widely read newsletter where she gives language to experiences many patients have felt but never been able to name.
Lisa Erlanger, MD, is a Seattle physician, teacher, and medical activist. She is the founding president of the Association for Weight and Size Inclusive Medicine and has spent her career advocating for and teaching trauma-informed, patient-centered care that is sustainable for patients and providers. Her book, Getting the Healthcare You Deserve In the Body You Have Now, will be published by the University of California Press in 2027.
Event Venue & Nearby Stays
The Elliott Bay Book Company, 1521 10th Avenue, Seattle, United States
USD 0.00
