Has Medical Technology: Has Medical Technology Gone Too Far?

The level of technology that concerns the health of people in the United States has grown dramatically in the last twenty years. With this new wave of advanced technology numerous controversies have risen up into the public eye. At the top of this list, in health technology is the materials and methods used in keeping humans alive. There are many different viewpoints on how far technology should be allowed to go. Technology cannot effect the patient’s way of life.

Overtime the understanding of human society has been seen and described in many different perspectives. With new concepts and point of views backed by research and study, sociology continues to be changed and adjusted as we learn more about humanity every day. But the interesting thing is, that the way sociology changes, is similar to the way many things in life change over time as well. For example, in this paper we will look at the medicalization of society through its three main perspectives, and see that they work hand in hand. The medicalization of society is constantly changing due to ever-growing technology and discoveries. We continue to learn more and more each day about both sociology and medicalization which is why it is easy for us to put them both into the same perspective together. The medicalization of society can be explained through the three main sociological perspectives allowing us to better understand and analysis each concept for its own different meaning.

With new developments in technology in healthcare also comes with great responsibility from an ethical standpoint. Decisions can be difficult, ethically when taking into consideration of the life, health or amount of money needed for the type of care given to a patient. Here are a few examples of medical technology perceptions that have changed of the last decade ethically:

It was said by the CEO of Apple that, “Technology is nothing. What’s important is that you have a faith in people, that they’re basically good and smart, and if you give them tools, they’ll do wonderful things with them.” (Iz Quotes) In this day and age, technology has infiltrated society in more ways than can be imagined, even in terms of the medical field. Biomedical technology is the use of new advances in terms of computers and electronic devices to assist in saving lives and making new strides in medicine. The question remains, however, whether this technology helps or hurts people in the long run, and whether the use of it should be restricted. This is a relevant issue in society for the reason that it can help save people, or it can hurt or possibly even take their lives. (ProQuest Staff) It also raises the question as to whether technology is completely replacing people. The use of biomedical technology should be restrained, but not completely eliminated, for the reason that it improves the way that doctors and physicians are able to care for the sick. Nevertheless, it is important to realize that the use of technology should come second to the actual doctors, since the skills truly lie in the hands of the people that use them, rather than in today’s advanced technology, as can be ascertained from Mr. Jobs’ quote. Technology can enhance people, however, moderation

Medical technology encompasses a wide range of healthcare products and is used to diagnose, monitor, and treat diseases or medical conditions that affect humans. This may included but not limited too, pharmaceuticals, vaccines, and medical equipment. Such technologies are intended to improve the quality of healthcare delivered through earlier diagnosis, less invasive treatment options and reductions in hospital stays and rehabilitation times. Recent advances in medical technology have also focused on cost reduction. Medical technology may include medical devices, information technology, biotech, and healthcare services. The impacts of medical technology may involve social and ethical issues. For example physicians may seek objective information from technology rather than listening to subjective patient reports. A major contributor of healthcare expenditure in America is the advancement of medical technology. According to several studies it is shown that there is a correlation between the nation’s gross domestic product (GDP) and money allocated to healthcare. One of the leading theories is that medical technology is growing faster than expected.

With an advancing medical field, new technology allows doctors to do almost the impossible. Automatic genetic analysis, restoration of eyesight, and robotic limbs remain as some of the most cutting edge innovative technology in the medical field. Society witnesses the creation of even more medical breakthroughs, however, the application of new found research enhances and prolongs the quality of life for humans. A growing elderly population prompts the progression of superior palliative care and hospice care. While end of life care attempts to make the last months of a person’s life as comfortable as possible, ultimately palliative and hospice care become ineffective in helping with the excruciating pain. Thus, the legalization of physician assisted suicide provides a compassionate death while preserving the concept of patient autonomy.

The first article I reviewed outlined the history of the EHR and discussed the possible future directions of the EHR while the second article measured the successes of the CPOE and new avenues for hospitals with the CPOE.

Based on evidence from http://euthanasia.procon.org/, the number of states legalizing physician-assisted suicide has increased greatly just over six years. Since 2008, five out of the six states to legalize assisted suicide after Oregon in 1994 have done so (Washington, Colorado, Vermont, California and Montana) and also over just eight years, four countries have legalized assisted suicide (Belgium, Canada, Luxembourg and South Africa). Two other states (Maine and Massachusetts) have come very close to legalizing assisted suicide. Maine rejected legalizing assisted suicide by a gap of only 2% (51%-49%), and Massachusetts missed the requirement of voters “by less than 60,000 votes.” Having four countries and five states legalize assisted suicide over just eight years is astonishing, given that only one state and one country have legalized it before 2008. These patterns show that the United States’s and the world’s acceptance of assisted suicide will only continue to increase over the following years as our style of thinking begins to change. According to sociologists from the Foresight Institute (foresight.org), society is likely to see a major technological change (paradigm shift) very soon (possibly over the next decade), and it is believed that it will come from the field of biomedics. This means that medical technology

There has been as many arguments over these topics in the medical field as there have been with the law. With medical technology progressing, there are things that can prolong ones life. These things may all seem good, but for a patient who has to live a life of suffering, a prolonged one is not something these people may wish for. This is where physician assisted suicide would come in, the terminally ill patient would go to their doctors for medicine to help with their suffering, fatal drugs. Examples can be taken from landmark cases such as Karen Anne Quinlan, Nancy Cruzan, and Terri Schivao, these are all cases in which the patient (or a close family member), decided that using medical technology to prolong the patients life would not be worth it. The 1990 case of Nancy Cruzan was one that brought much controversy because her parents were the ones to decide to remove the feeding tube after Cruzan was left in a vegetative state after an accident. The parents argued that she should “die a dignified death as they said she would have wanted” (NY Times). Cruzan was in a vegetative state where she could not move and experience life as a

Technology has open the possibility for new advancements and creations in the world. In medicine, for example, technology has helped increase lifespan, improved our life conditions and reduce the risk of harmful diseases. However, for some patients, technology has also been accompanied with prolonged suffering and with devastating physical and medical expenses. With more people connected today to CPR machines during their time of deaths, many individuals are having a harder time to achieve a “death with dignity”, in part because technology is disrupting both the quality of living of patients and the control they have over their own bodies. That being said, given this new technological context, can it be possible for patients to

There is no doubt that the medical field has gone through numerous changes due to the advancement in technology. In reference to Spekowius and Thomas, technological development has been the primary driving force towards the improvement in medical care that has seen numerous lives saved. Nonetheless, despite the advancements, chronic diseases such as cancer remain without a cure. Palliative care remains the only process that can keep individuals alive and comfortable for as long as it is medically possible. However, there has been debate over the effectiveness of palliative care in reference to care offered to chronic disease patients. Euthanasia has been an option in such discussions. The view of assisted suicide as a medical solution for

One reason for the new emphasis on scientific analysis is that death is rapidly changing. Technological systems of life-support have

Over the course of many centuries, medical technology has developed to a great extent. Studies show that recent equipment has evolved more in the last ten to twenty years than in the past thousand years. Before human time, people learned to treat themselves by just using natural substances. Now-a-days, our hi-tech systems in the medical field have been created for the most effective tools for a high level of patient care. While they advance the tools, it will then allow for quicker diagnosis, less pain, and fewer costs, which in the end will help save more lives. Some people are accepting that modern technology can buy them more time to live while others might find it quite alarming because they fear

In today’s medical field technology plays a big role when it comes to patient care. Technology is huge when it comes to giving the patient the best type of quality care when they are in the hospital. In the old days people would just write it down on a sheet of paper and record it by hand, which caused mistakes. Now with the Electronic Health Record those mistakes are drastically declining. Statistics have shown that using the Electronic Health Record has lowered Nursing mistakes as well as improved patient care. Our society has progressed through the years and has been introduced with the Electronic Health Record which has drastically improved our health care system. The Electronic Health Record provides great communication between

Ethics, in medicine, is described as applying one’s morals and values to healthcare decisions (Fremgen 2012). It requires a critical-thinking approach that examines important considerations such as fairness for all patients, the impact of the decision on society and the future repercussions of the decision (Fremgen 2012). According to Fremgen (2012), bioethics concerns ethical issues discussed in the perspective of advanced medical technology. Goldman and Schafer (2012) state bioethical issues that arise in medical practice include antibiotics, dialysis, transplantation, intensive care units, issues of genetics, reproductive choices and termination of care. In clinical practice the most common issues revolve around informed consent, termination of life-sustaining treatments, euthanasia and physician-assisted suicide, and conflicts of interest (Goldman, Schafer 2012).