[The ethics of communication in medicine]

The present situation of the information related to the new therapeutical and diagnostic possibilities in all fields of medicine is at risk, because it is undermined by a series of promoting elements which influence its ethicality. Some of the causes to be mentioned refer to the changes occurred in the society and in the economy of western countries, as well as the evolution of the scientific thought, both in terms of research and of applied philosophy. The advent of the welfare state, of consumerism, the enormous successes in all fields of medicine, the diffusion of communication together with the inevitable, uncontrollable personalization, are certainly concomitant causes. The conclusions we can draw cannot be optimistic. Those who practice medicine, therefore, should pay particular attention to the scientific aspects. Applied science, the ethics of the message but above all the relationship doctor-patient, which should be lived as a vocation, represent a useful filter to curb the risk of a decadent and consumeristic practice, where the patient becomes an object rather than an individual.