Is Medicine Still Good for Us? (The Big Idea Series) (The Big Idea Series)

Book excerpt: This fascinating entry in The Big Idea series lays out the ethical implications and the costs of modern medicine. Over the course of human history, medicine has achieved incredible successes—but at what cost? This latest book in The Big Idea series explores the state of modern medicine, examining the ethics of medical and healthcare practices and the impact they have on modern life. This fascinating analysis engages with the debate surrounding the escalating costs, both financial and ethical, of medicine today. Intelligent and provocative, Is Medicine Still Good for Us? dissects common assumptions about medicine, helping the reader create their own informed opinion about its extraordinary achievements, limitations, injustices, and inevitable failures. Dr. Julian Sheather, an ethics adviser to Doctors Without Borders, contextualizes medicine as a science, art, institution, and ideology, outlining the pros and cons of what medicine has become in the signature Big Idea textual approach. Accompanying Sheather’s text are numerous informative illustrations that deepen the reader’s understanding of the material. A timely addition to the series, this book will engage those who love to debate, who are interested in ethics and philosophy, and those working in the medical field.