This article studies how contested medical authority in the late nineteenth century is represented in Proust's À la recherche du temps perdu (1913–1927). Medical discourse and the authority of doctors regarding childhood diseases and disorders are challenged by the narrator/protagonist's mother and grandmother, in situations which articulate tensions between maternal and patriarchal authority over children's health and hygiene. Informed by the work of Michael R. Finn, Donald Wright, and Joan Tronto, this article traces the politics of care in Proust's work to show how intersections of class and gender inform the experiences of those living with illness, with ideas of care and scepticism towards medical expertise transcending class divisions.