[On doctor-patient communication from an anthropological and social point of view]

This paper attempts to perform a historical anthropological analysis of the factors that currently either favor or obstruct the doctor-patient relationship. For this purpose, the main works of reference are the sociologist Gilles Lipovetsky and the Spanish author Pedro Laín Entralgo. The former, identified with the concept of Postmodernity and individual Hedonism, is crucial in understanding what are the main determinants in the most recent developments affecting the doctor-patient relationship. Since the technological revolution, advances in science have surpassed all imagination, information technology has worked its way into all types of relationship, and thus medical practice has been particularly affected. On the other hand, the work of Laín Entralgo enables us to perform a review of the history of the doctor-patient relationship in the Western world, which affords a more accurate view of the origins and evolution of the current situation.