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Medicalization, markets and consumers.

Peter Conrad1, Valerie Leiter

  • 1Department of Sociology, Brandeis University, Waltham, MA 02454-9110, USA. conrad@brandeis.edu

Journal of Health and Social Behavior
|March 23, 2005
PubMed
Summary

Changes in the medical marketplace, including direct-to-consumer advertising and private markets, significantly drive medicalization. Pharmaceutical corporations and consumers play key roles, with insurers and physicians facilitating or restricting this process.

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Area of Science:

  • Sociology of Medicine
  • Health Economics
  • Pharmaceutical Industry Analysis

Background:

  • The medical marketplace is undergoing significant transformations.
  • Direct-to-consumer advertising (DTCA) for prescription drugs and the rise of private medical markets are key changes.
  • Understanding these shifts is crucial for analyzing medicalization trends.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To examine the impact of a changing medical marketplace on medicalization in U.S. society.
  • To identify the roles of consumers, pharmaceutical corporations, physicians, insurers, and regulatory practices in medicalization.
  • To differentiate between mediated and private medical markets and their influence.

Main Methods:

  • Case study analysis of four examples: Viagra, Paxil, human growth hormone, and in vitro fertilization.
  • Focus on the influence of direct-to-consumer advertising and private medical markets.
  • Examination of the interplay between corporations, consumers, physicians, and insurers.

Main Results:

  • Consumers and pharmaceutical corporations are significant drivers of medicalization.
  • Physicians, insurance coverage, and regulatory changes act as facilitators.
  • Insurers sometimes attempt to limit medicalization by restricting access.
  • Mediated and private medical markets exhibit distinct relationships with stakeholders.

Conclusions:

  • The evolving medical environment, with medical markets as key factors, increasingly positions corporations and insurers as major determinants of medicalization.
  • DTCA and private markets amplify the influence of commercial interests on defining health and illness.
  • Further research is needed to explore the long-term societal implications of these market-driven medicalization trends.

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