The fear of life: Hyper-medicalised societies

Authors

  • Milagros Pérez Oliva El País (Spain).

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.7203/metode.6.7286

Keywords:

medication consumption, promotion of disease, risk management, commercialisation of disease, welfare state

Abstract

We are becoming more vulnerable. The feeling of general uncertainty comes from the fact that we live through several crises at the same time. In a world dominated by consumerism and self-interest, health has also become a consumer product. The wellness industry offers shortcuts to happiness and remedies to overcome the anxieties and discomforts of life: shortcuts and remedies in pill form. In this context, journalism must ensure access to truthful, evidence-based information that allows people to manage their decision-making properly, especially in situations concerning individual and collective health.

 

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Author Biography

Milagros Pérez Oliva, El País (Spain).

Journalist, Head of the El País Area of Biomedicine and its health supplement. From 2009 to 2012 she was also the Reader’s Ombudsman for the newspaper. She is Professor of the El País Masters Degree in Journalism at the Autonomous University of Madrid (Spain) and of the Masters Degree in Scientific, Medical and Environmental Communication in the Pompeu Fabra University in Barcelona (Spain). Her journalistic career has been recognised with several prizes; among them: the National Journalism Award 2006 from the Generalitat de Catalunya (Catalan regional government), the award of the Spanish Society of General Medicine (2007), the Boehringer Ingelheim Award for Medical Journalism (2009) and the Margarita Rivière prize (2015).

References

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Cohen, D. (2001). Nuestros tiempos modernos. Barcelona: Tusquets.

Frances, A. (2014). ¿Somos todos enfermos mentales? Barcelona: Ariel.

Frankfurt, H. G. (2007). Sobre la verdad. Barcelona: Paidós.

Garcés, M. (2013). Un mundo común. Barcelona: Bellaterra.

Han, B-Ch. (2012). La sociedad del cansancio. Barcelona: Herder.

Innerarity, D. (2009). El futuro y sus enemigos. Una defensa de la esperanza política. Barcelona: Paidós.

Moynihan, R., Heath, I., & Henry, D. (2002). Selling sickness: The pharmaceutical industry and disease mongering. British Medical Journal, 324, 886–890. doi: 10.1136/bmj.324.7342.886

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Published

2016-04-15

How to Cite

Pérez Oliva, M. (2016). The fear of life: Hyper-medicalised societies. Metode Science Studies Journal, (6), 201–207. https://doi.org/10.7203/metode.6.7286
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Issue

Science grid: The public understanding of science (2016)

Section

Communicating health. Medical outreach efforts in the media

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