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Defining laboratory medicine: a circle cannot be squared

Giuseppe Lippi1, Mario Plebani2

  • 1Section of Clinical Biochemistry, University of Verona, Verona, Italy.

Biochemia Medica
|June 18, 2021
PubMed

Insights

Laboratory medicine must provide actionable data for both individuals and populations. Prioritizing the common good over individual benefit is a flawed approach, as collective well-being stems from individual health.

Area of Science:

  • Medical Diagnostics
  • Public Health
  • Personalized Medicine

Background:

  • The concept of a "whole population" is an oversimplification in the modern era.
  • Individuals exhibit significant diversity in age, sex, ethnicity, occupation, health, lifestyle, and risk factors.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To advocate for laboratory medicine's dual role in providing individual and universal actionable data.
  • To challenge the simplistic prioritization of common beneficence over individual good.

Main Methods:

  • Conceptual analysis of population health paradigms.
  • Ethical and philosophical examination of collective versus individual benefit.

Main Results:

  • The "whole population" is not a monolithic entity but a collection of unique individuals.
  • The common good is fundamentally the aggregation of individual well-being and benefits.

Conclusions:

  • Laboratory medicine must generate data applicable at both individual and population levels.
  • A nuanced approach is required, recognizing that individual health contributes to overall societal well-being.

Keywords:
definitionlaboratory medicinetesting

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