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September 1, 2009
In today’s world, there are doctors who respect the distinctive identity of the patient, and are humane and communicative. But there is one fact that cannot be denied- modern medicine is getting instrumental, and is losing its bond with a normal patient. There are possibly two reasons for this. One may be that expertise medical knowledge cannot be separated from the discourse of power that permits the doctor and the medical machinery to have an absolute control over the patient. The patient has already acquired a stigmatized identity – a ‘case’ to be filed and documented, and kept under perpetual surveillance until ‘normalcy’ is restored. In this encounter, the patient has no voice, no reflexivity. And this asymmetry goes on, based on a well-constructed premise that doctors know best about their patients. Secondly, in contemporary times, new technologies have drastically altered the culture of the medical enterprise. Doctors are becoming more and more dependent on these gadgets. The MRI scan, ultrasound and all the other sophisticated tests reduce the patient into a mere body; absolutely fragmented and thoroughly objectified. These tests and reports acquire a ‘scientific’ character and deprive the doctor of knowing about the patient – say, by talking, touching and listening. See more about this in the next post.
