Authority in Medicine

I find the whole idea of power and authority within different institutions very interesting. It's something that affects us all, whether we realize it or not. One of the institutions that holds the most power is medical; whether its hospitals or individual doctors. Medical discourse decides who and what is normal, and what is considered deviant. We saw this is Business of Being Born; doctors in the hospitals will decide when the woman should be induced and how long she is allowed to be in labor. They impose power and authority over the people in lesser positions than them, and can manipulate things to go how they want them to go. The women giving birth might have ideas of how she wants the birth to be, but in a moment of distress they might not be able to voice their opinion properly, or may give in to medical practices since their judgement may be impaired by stress or drugs like an epidural anesthesia.

This connects to what Walt from Breaking Bad feels when his wife wants him to go for treatment and he doesn't want to. Not seeking medical help may seem like the deviant act, but to him the deviance lies in being a cancer patient to begin with. He doesn't want to be stigmatized or defined by his illness. He expresses fear about being poked and prodded by doctors. He wants to sleep in his own home and feel like a normal part of society. Although it would be difficult to hear a loved one deny something that could help save their life, I do see where he's coming from. Sometimes it can feel as though we are at the mercy of healthcare professionals, and we don't always know better. We trust them because they are the experts. I am not anti- doctor whatsoever, but at times it does seem like trial and error. They may not have all the answers and certain procedures can feel like guinea pig tests. I do think some things should be done for the greater good, but like we said in class, there needs to be more done before hand to ensure medical honesty and consent, and avoid things being done last minute that are not in the best interest of the patient. Like the syphilis experiments showed us, even if "a few" people suffer from lack of consent or exploitation, that is too many. We need to make sure that things are being done for the right reasons and that people are't hurt in the medical process.





This cartoon made ma laugh and shows how, at times, the medical profession makes things more difficult than it has to be!