Disease mongering
Encyclopedia
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Disease mongering is a pejorative
term for the practice of widening the diagnostic boundaries of illnesses, and promoting public awareness of such, in order to expand the markets for those who sell and deliver treatments, which may include pharmaceutical companies
, physicians, and other professional or consumer organizations. Examples include male pattern baldness and certain social phobias
.
In discussions specifically about psychiatric diagnosis, the term is frequently used by proponents of the antipsychiatry movement, and Scientology
-based critics as just one part of their criticism of psychiatry
or specifically biopsychiatry. Examples include ADHD and bipolar disorder
.
Proponents of this practice argue that the pharmaceutical industry is only providing the public with information about its options and that actual prescription
is a matter to be discussed between patient and doctor. Opponents, however, claim that this approach leads to the unnecessary prescription of drugs, that its motivation is primarily or only to profit the drug companies, and that it may actually harm instead of help patients.
A 2006 Newcastle, New South Wales
international conference, reported in PLoS Medicine
, explored the phenomenon of disease mongering. Journalist Ray Moynihan
satirised disease mongering in a BMJ
"news" item that appeared in its April Fool's Day edition 2006, titled "Scientists find new disease: motivational deficiency disorder".
Disease mongering is a pejorative
Pejorative
Pejoratives , including name slurs, are words or grammatical forms that connote negativity and express contempt or distaste. A term can be regarded as pejorative in some social groups but not in others, e.g., hacker is a term used for computer criminals as well as quick and clever computer experts...
term for the practice of widening the diagnostic boundaries of illnesses, and promoting public awareness of such, in order to expand the markets for those who sell and deliver treatments, which may include pharmaceutical companies
Pharmaceutical company
The pharmaceutical industry develops, produces, and markets drugs licensed for use as medications. Pharmaceutical companies are allowed to deal in generic and/or brand medications and medical devices...
, physicians, and other professional or consumer organizations. Examples include male pattern baldness and certain social phobias
Specific social phobia
Mental health professionals often distinguish between generalized social phobia and specific social phobia. People with generalized social phobia have great distress in a wide range of social situations. Those with specific social phobia may experience anxiety only in a few situations...
.
In discussions specifically about psychiatric diagnosis, the term is frequently used by proponents of the antipsychiatry movement, and Scientology
Scientology
Scientology is a body of beliefs and related practices created by science fiction and fantasy author L. Ron Hubbard , starting in 1952, as a successor to his earlier self-help system, Dianetics...
-based critics as just one part of their criticism of psychiatry
Psychiatry
Psychiatry is the medical specialty devoted to the study and treatment of mental disorders. These mental disorders include various affective, behavioural, cognitive and perceptual abnormalities...
or specifically biopsychiatry. Examples include ADHD and bipolar disorder
Bipolar disorder
Bipolar disorder or bipolar affective disorder, historically known as manic–depressive disorder, is a psychiatric diagnosis that describes a category of mood disorders defined by the presence of one or more episodes of abnormally elevated energy levels, cognition, and mood with or without one or...
.
Proponents of this practice argue that the pharmaceutical industry is only providing the public with information about its options and that actual prescription
Medical prescription
A prescription is a health-care program implemented by a physician or other medical practitioner in the form of instructions that govern the plan of care for an individual patient. Prescriptions may include orders to be performed by a patient, caretaker, nurse, pharmacist or other therapist....
is a matter to be discussed between patient and doctor. Opponents, however, claim that this approach leads to the unnecessary prescription of drugs, that its motivation is primarily or only to profit the drug companies, and that it may actually harm instead of help patients.
A 2006 Newcastle, New South Wales
Newcastle, New South Wales
The Newcastle metropolitan area is the second most populated area in the Australian state of New South Wales and includes most of the Newcastle and Lake Macquarie Local Government Areas...
international conference, reported in PLoS Medicine
PLoS Medicine
PLoS Medicine is a peer-reviewed medical journal covering the full spectrum of the medical sciences. It began operation on October 19, 2004. It was the second journal of the Public Library of Science , a non-profit open-access publisher. All content in PLoS Medicine is published under the Creative...
, explored the phenomenon of disease mongering. Journalist Ray Moynihan
Ray Moynihan
Ray Moynihan is a multi-award winning Australian researcher, health journalist, documentary-maker and author. Employed for many years as an investigative journalist at the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, he has also worked for the Australian Financial Review and is currently a visiting editor...
satirised disease mongering in a BMJ
British Medical Journal
BMJ is a partially open-access peer-reviewed medical journal. Originally called the British Medical Journal, the title was officially shortened to BMJ in 1988. The journal is published by the BMJ Group, a wholly owned subsidiary of the British Medical Association...
"news" item that appeared in its April Fool's Day edition 2006, titled "Scientists find new disease: motivational deficiency disorder".
See also
- Inverse benefit lawInverse benefit lawThe Inverse Benefit Law states that the ratio of benefits to harms among patients taking new drugs tends to vary inversely with how extensively a drug is marketed...
- MedicalizationMedicalizationMedicalization is the process by which human conditions and problems come to be defined and treated as medical conditions and problems, and thus come under the authority of doctors and other health professionals to study, diagnose, prevent or treat...
- Pharmaceutical companyPharmaceutical companyThe pharmaceutical industry develops, produces, and markets drugs licensed for use as medications. Pharmaceutical companies are allowed to deal in generic and/or brand medications and medical devices...
- Pharmaceutical marketingPharmaceutical marketingPharmaceutical marketing , sometimes called medico-marketing, is the business of advertising or otherwise promoting the sale of pharmaceuticals or drugs. There is some evidence that marketing practices can negatively affect both patients and the health care profession...
- Quaternary preventionQuaternary preventionThe quaternary prevention, concept coined by the Belgian general practitioner , are the action taken to identify patient at risk of overmedicalisation, to protect him from new medical invasion, and to suggest to him interventions, which are ethically acceptable...
- SchooliosisSchooliosisSchooliosis, a pun on "school" and "scoliosis", is a term for a type of medical misdiagnosis. The word was coined by Petr Skrabanek and James McCormick....
Further reading
- Saddichha S (2010)."Disease Mongering in Psychiatry: Is It Fact or Fiction?" World Medical & Health Policy: Vol. 2: Iss. 1, Article 15. DOI: 10.2202/1948-4682.1042
- Peter Conrad (2007), The Medicalization of Society: On the Transformation of Human Conditions into Treatable Disorders, BaltimoreBaltimoreBaltimore is the largest independent city in the United States and the largest city and cultural center of the US state of Maryland. The city is located in central Maryland along the tidal portion of the Patapsco River, an arm of the Chesapeake Bay. Baltimore is sometimes referred to as Baltimore...
: Johns Hopkins University PressJohns Hopkins University PressThe Johns Hopkins University Press is the publishing division of the Johns Hopkins University. It was founded in 1878 and holds the distinction of being the oldest continuously running university press in the United States. The Press publishes books, journals, and electronic databases...
. - Melody Petersen (2008), Our Daily Meds: How the Pharmaceutical Companies Transformed Themselves into Slick Marketing Machines and Hooked the Nation on Prescription Drugs.
- Christopher Lane (2008), Shyness: How Normal Behavior Became a Sickness.