The main themes of The Doctor’s Dilemma are conflict of interest, resource rationalization, and justice. Dr. Ridgeon discovers a treatment for tuberculosis, but the demand far exceeds the available resources. He is therefore forced to choose which patients to treat. Among them are a morally upright but impoverished colleague, and a famous painter of questionable ethics whose life is devoted to pleasure. The painter’s beautiful wife captures Dr. Ridgeon’s attention, creating a moral conflict: whether to treat his deserving colleague, or the painter—whose death might allow Ridgeon to pursue his own desires.