Abstract

RIBEIRO, Andrea Cristina Lovato  and  FERLA, Alcindo Antônio. HOW PHYSICIANS BECOME GODS: REFLECTIONS ON MEDICAL POWER TODAY. Psicol. rev. (Belo Horizonte) [online]. 2016, vol.22, n.2, pp.294-314. ISSN 1677-1168.  https://doi.org/DOI-10.5752/P.1678-9523.2016V22N2P294.

The current concept of health refers to a broader concept of the conditions rather than the absence of disease. This concept highlights the importance of health care that can take into account not just the symptoms presented by people. In spite of this, the current health care model is based on the doctor figure, as representative of a logic of knowledge and specific practices, on the disease as focus of interventions and on the overuse of drugs. This paper offers reflections on how the doctor came to occupy a central role in modern times and won legitimacy to decide about the value of human lives. Firstly, considerations about the birth of biopolitics derived from the contributions of Michel Foucault, leading to a theoretical approach between medicine, bare life and sovereign power, from the reflections proposed by Giorgio Agamben, will be presented. Finally, considerations on the medicalization of life will be given, from the contributions of John Biehl. The reflection, linking different fields of knowledge, about the roles of professionals in medicine and other health professions, seeks to provoke insight for comprehensive care and a health care more compatible with the incarnate life of people within the health services

Keywords : Health care; Medical power; Biopolitics; Bare life; Medicalization of life.

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