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Abstract This article compares two practices for initiating treatment decision-making, evident in audio-recorded consultations between a neurologist and 13 patients in two hospital clinics in the UK. We call these �recommending� and �option-listing�. The former entails making a proposal to do something; the latter entails the construction of a list of options. Using conversation analysis (CA), we illustrate each, showing that the distinction between these two practices matters to participants. Our analysis centres on two distinctions between the practices: epistemic differences and differences in the slots each creates for the patient�s response. Considering the implications of our findings for understanding medical authority, we argue that option-listing � relative to recommending � is a practice whereby clinicians work to relinquish a little of their authority. This article contributes, then, to a growing body of CA work that offers a more nuanced, tempered account of medical authority than is typically portrayed in the sociological literature. We argue that future CA studies should map out the range of ways � in addition to recommending � in which treatment decision-making is initiated by clinicians. This will allow for further evidence-based contributions to debates on the related concepts of patient participation, choice, shared decision-making and medical authority.
