Can medicalization be good? Situating medicalization within bioethics

Area of Science:

• Social Sciences
• Bioethics
• Medical Sociology

Background:

• Medicalization, the process of defining non-medical issues as medical problems, is primarily analyzed by social scientists, historians, and cultural critics.
• The role of bioethics in evaluating medicalization as a social phenomenon remains underexplored in existing literature.

Purpose of the Study:

• To define medicalization, delineate its functions, and establish criteria for its assessment.
• To explore the contribution of bioethics to the analysis of medicalization.
• To examine how bioethics can inform public policy regarding medicalization.

Main Methods:

• Conceptual analysis of medicalization.
• Review of existing literature on medicalization and bioethics.
• Illustrative case studies demonstrating bioethical contributions.

Main Results:

• Medicalization involves defining non-medical conditions in medical terms, often driven by various social and economic factors.
• Bioethics provides a critical lens to assess the ethical implications, scope, and consequences of medicalization.
• Case sketches highlight bioethics' utility in analyzing specific instances of medicalization and guiding policy.

Conclusions:

• Bioethics is a valuable tool for understanding and appraising the complex social process of medicalization.
• Integrating bioethical perspectives can enhance the analysis of medicalization and contribute to more informed public policy.
• Further research is needed to fully explore the intersection of bioethics and medicalization studies.