The Rise and Fall of Modern Medicine

The achievements of medicine since World War II rank as one of the most sustained triumphs of human endeavour since the Renaissance. So dramatic and profound has been the assault on disease that it is now difficult to imagine the world of just half a century ago when there were no drugs for most killer diseases. These achievements have had a profoundly beneficial affect on people's lives as well as being a liberating force, freeing them from the fear of illness or untimely death, permitting most of them for the first time in human history to live out their natural lifespans, and significantly ameliorating the chronic disabilities associated with ageing. This book argues, however, that whilst the scope of medicine is immeasurably greater than it was, the optimism generated by its advances seems to have evaporated: medicine is doing better but feeling worse. The author presents a wide-ranging appraisal of the science, philosophy and politics of modern medicine.