''Limits to Medicine'', also known as ''Medical Nemesis'', is a book by
Ivan Illich
Ivan Dominic Illich ( ; ; 4 September 1926 – 2 December 2002) was an Austrian Catholic priest, Theology, theologian, philosopher, and social critic. His 1971 book ''Deschooling Society'' criticises modern society's institutional approach to ...
, first published in 1975. Without defining what medicalisation is, Illich claimed that medicine had increasingly gained social control over people's lives, leading to
iatrogenic effects, with physicians as the key players in the process.
Central Idea
The central idea of the book is that medicine - especially Western medicine - is not as good and effective as physicians make it out to be. It has its inherent weaknesses, which are often deliberately suppressed by the medical establishment. Consider the introduction of the book, which begins with this statement, "The medical establishment has become a major threat to health".
See also
*
David Horrobin
*
David Cayley
*
Nassim Nicholas Taleb
Nassim Nicholas Taleb (; alternatively ''Nessim ''or'' Nissim''; born 12 September 1960) is a Lebanese-American essayist, mathematical statistician, former option trader, risk analyst, and aphorist. His work concerns problems of randomness, ...
- author of the book
''Antifragile'' (2012) which heavily leans into the term
Iatrogenics
References
1975 books
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