Related Experiment Video
Updated: May 10, 2026

A Novel Method for Involving Women of Color at High Risk for Preterm Birth in Research Priority Setting
Published on: January 12, 2018
[Ethics and prevention of medicalization]
M Tovar-Bobo1, M J Cerecedo-Pérez, A Rozadilla-Arias
1Medicina de Familia y Comunitaria, Centro Saúde Culleredo, A Coruña, España.
Abstract:
Society has shifted issues of subjective and social reality of the population into the medical field, with the obsession with perfect health becoming a predominant pathogenic factor in the increase in the number of diseases and patients, while the level of health in the population is improving. The power of medicine has made the idea of «medicalising» various aspects of life that can be perceived as medical problems as attractive even when it is not the case. Living entails times of unhappiness and anguish but, should we treat these episodes? We are in the health culture of «everything, here and now». In this article, the ethical implications of unnecessary interventions are analysed, along with the different alternatives that the professionals involved may perform to redirect this situation. It is reflected if we want a world where we all risk wearing labels for this or that disease.
Related Concept Videos
Ethics and Bioethics
Ethical Issues
Ethical Concerns in Healthcare:
Ethical Dilemmas II
Ethical Dilemmas I
Let us explore some examples to understand the potentially complex moral decisions nurses face.
Take the case of caring for minors, particularly in areas related to reproductive...
Psychosurgery
Historical Development of Psychosurgery
In the 1930s, Portuguese neurologist Antonio Egas Moniz introduced a surgical procedure designed...
Levels of Health Promotion and Illness Prevention
In primary prevention, actions taken before disease onset prevent the disease from...