Meet the physician-host behind ABC’s new series, Miracle Workers:

Nearly everybody at ABC believes that whatever the ultimate fate of Miracle Workers, it will make Burke a star. “Look, he was in here the other day, and all the women were sneaking into the lunchroom to get a peek at him,” confided one network official. “He’s got it.”

But the show also may make him an inviting target for criticism. Internet chat rooms already are simmering over the ethical questions posed by Miracle Workers: Should patients have to cry and suffer on camera to get treatment? Should medical privacy be for sale? Is potential death or disfigurement from an operation gone wrong the ultimate reality-show gimmick?

The show is already on the radar screens of medical professionals.

“The concern is that we’re turning excellent care into entertainment,” says Kenneth Goodman, director of the University of Miami’s bioethics program. “The tradition in medicine is [a commitment] to privacy and to a high standard independent of the ability to pay. This says we’re going to make it public and there may or may not be an incentive to do that.”

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