E-Book Overview
Personalized healthcare―or what the award-winning author Donna Dickenson calls "Me Medicine"―is radically transforming our longstanding "one-size-fits-all" model. Technologies such as direct-to-consumer genetic testing, pharmacogenetically developed therapies in cancer care, private umbilical cord blood banking, and neurocognitive enhancement claim to cater to an individual's specific biological character, and, in some cases, these technologies have shown powerful potential. Yet in others they have produced negligible or even negative results. Whatever is behind the rise of Me Medicine, it isn't just science. So why is Me Medicine rapidly edging out We Medicine, and how has our commitment to our collective health suffered as a result?
In her cogent, provocative analysis, Dickenson examines the economic and political factors fueling the Me Medicine phenomenon and explores how, over time, this paradigm shift in how we approach our health might damage our individual and collective well-being. Historically, the measures of "We Medicine," such as vaccination and investment in public-health infrastructure, have radically extended our life spans, and Dickenson argues we've lost sight of that truth in our enthusiasm for "Me Medicine."
Dickenson explores how personalized medicine illustrates capitalism's protean capacity for creating new products and markets where none existed before―and how this, rather than scientific plausibility, goes a long way toward explaining private umbilical cord blood banks and retail genetics. Drawing on the latest findings from leading scientists, social scientists, and political analysts, she critically examines four possible hypotheses driving our Me Medicine moment: a growing sense of threat; a wave of patient narcissism; corporate interests driving new niche markets; and the dominance of personal choice as a cultural value. She concludes with insights from political theory that emphasize a conception of the commons and the steps we can take to restore its value to modern biotechnology.
E-Book Content
15/16”
“Few words have as much ethical clout these days as that of ‘choice,’ a word that can be construed as the centrality of ‘me.’ Using personalized medicine as her point of departure, Donna Dickenson brilliantly works her way through a range of recent medical developments to show the damage the dominance of ‘me’ can bring. Her book can help restore the ‘us’ that has been diminished.” daniel callahan , cofounder and president emeritus of The Hastings Center and author of The Roots of Bioethics: Health, Progress, Technology, Death “In this timely book, Dickenson levels trenchant criticism at the poster child of the twenty-first-century biomedical establishment: ‘personalized medicine.’ Analyzing an impressive array of practices in the new life sciences, she makes a persuasive argument that, as personalized medicine unfolds, market values and individualism are trumping the ideals of public health. This book comes at a critical moment. As we reappraise the social contract of health care, this book helps better direct research and development towards the common good.” david winickoff , University of California, Berkeley
jacket design: chang jae lee
“If you are wondering what to make of personalized medicine’s grand claims, let Dickenson be your guide. Turning her keen scientific and political intelligence to biotech visions of individually tailored drugs, consumer gene tests, enhancement technologies, and more, she finds tidbits of hope for improving healthcare among scads of hype—some of it dangerous. This must-read book makes a powerful case for taming market domination and ‘me-centeredness’ and for renewing our commitments to public health and the common good.” marcy darnovsky , executive director, Center for Genetics and Society columbia university pres c u p.