Eric J. Cassell

Eric Jonathan Cassell, born Eric Jonathan Goldstein (August 29, 1928 – September 24, 2021) was an American physician and bioethicist.

Early life and education Eric Jonathan Goldstein was born on August 29, 1928, in New York City. He and his brother changed their surname to Cassell to render it closer to their grandfather's name, which was changed at Ellis Island.

Career Cassell taught at Cornell University Medical College and Mount Sinai School of Medicine, and practiced at French Hospital and New York Hospital. He was elected a member of the National Academy of Medicine in 1982.

According to a 2019 critical review of Cassell's work, his views on the nature of suffering were "close to canonical" in the medical community. Cassell advanced a subjective view of suffering, according to which the condition must be understood by reference to the beliefs and perceptions of the person experiencing it.

Cassell died on September 24, 2021, in East Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania.