The need for “gentle medicine” in a post Covid-19 world

Medicine, Health Care and Philosophy 24 (4):475-486 (2021)
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Abstract

As it has historically been the case with many pandemics, the Covid-19 experience will induce many philosophers to reconsider the value of medical practice. This should be a good opportunity to critically scrutinize the way medical research and medical interventions are carried out. For much of its history, medicine has been very inefficient. But, even in its contemporary forms, a review of common protocols in medical research and medical interventions reveal many shortcomings, especially related to methodological flaws, and more importantly, conflicts of interests due to profit incentives. In the face of these problems, we propose a program of “gentle medicine”. This term, originally formulated by philosopher Jacob Stegenga, describes a form of medicine in which physicians intervene less than they currently do. As part of this general program, we advance a series of reform recommendations that could be enacted both by medical staff in their everyday practice, but also by public health officials and policymakers.

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Citations of this work

Gentle medicine.Bert Gordijn & Henk ten Have - 2021 - Medicine, Health Care and Philosophy 24 (4):471-473.

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References found in this work

The Structure of Scientific Revolutions.Thomas S. Kuhn - 1962 - Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press. Edited by Ian Hacking.
Just Health Care.Norman Daniels - 1985 - New York: Cambridge University Press.
Inequality Reexamined.Amartya Sen - 1927 - Oxford University Press UK.
Medical Nihilism.Jacob Stegenga - 2018 - Oxford, United Kingdom: Oxford University Press.
Inequality Reexamined.John Roemer & Amartya Sen - 1994 - Philosophical Review 103 (3):554.

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