Medicine 2.0 - reflections on a pathology of the information society

Abstract

This article is based on another article published in Spanish in the magazine Humanidades Médicas, number 47, February 2010 (pp. 1-15) and also on a lecture that was published in the FORUM MEDIZIN 21"Ärztin / Arzt sein im 21, January 2009.The article analyzes the impact that digital communication and information technology can have on medicine both as a science, and as a practice. The technological changes that lead to a Medicine 2.0 occur on several levels, such as: information overload, the physician-patient relationship, the self-perception of both physician and patient, as well as the concept of the human body and what is understood as sickness and as health. With the purpose of defining a pathology of the information society, an anthropological framework is proposed based on concepts developed by Swiss physician and psychiatrist, Medard Boss, illustrating with a few examples a systematic analysis of said pathology. The article concludes by proposing guidelines for an ethical outline of a Medicine 2.0 as a reference for preventive and therapeutic care in the information society.