The Technological Imperative in Medical Practice: The Social Creation of a “Routine” Treatment

  • Barbara A. Koenig
Chapter
Part of the Culture, Illness and Healing book series (CIHE, volume 13)

Abstract

While leaving the operating room after assisting with an early implantation of an artificial heart into a human being, Dr. Robert Jarvik, one of the inventors of the new device, commented to the press that the surgery had gone so smoothly it seemed “routine.” The New York Times reported on February 18, 1985:

Though it was only the second time the Humana team performed an artificial heart implant, there was a sense of the routine. “Boy this is a dull operation,” one of the nurses who had participated in Mr. Schroeder’s operation said, according to Dr. Jarvik. “That was great,” Dr. Jarvik said, “because nothing exciting is going on, there didn’t seem to be any danger, any great risk here.”

Keywords

Plasma Exchange Medical Technology Thrombotic Thrombocytopenic Purpura Artificial Heart Moral Imperative 
These keywords were added by machine and not by the authors. This process is experimental and the keywords may be updated as the learning algorithm improves.
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Copyright information

© Kluwer Academic Publishers 1988

Authors and Affiliations

  • Barbara A. Koenig

There are no affiliations available

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