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Can medicalization be good? Situating medicalization within bioethics

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Abstract

Medicalization has been a process articulated primarily by social scientists, historians, and cultural critics. Comparatively little is written about the role of bioethics in appraising medicalization as a social process. The authors consider what medicalization means, its definition, functions, and criteria for assessment. A series of brief case sketches illustrate how bioethics can contribute to the analysis and public policy discussion of medicalization.

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Correspondence to John Z. Sadler.

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Sadler, J.Z., Jotterand, F., Lee, S.C. et al. Can medicalization be good? Situating medicalization within bioethics. Theor Med Bioeth 30, 411–425 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11017-009-9122-4

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