Overuse of Diagnostic Tests in Canada: A Critical Perspective

  • Julia Borges Division of Community Health and Humanities and Faculty of Medicine, Memorial University of Newfoundland, St. John’s, Canada
  • Tiffany Lee Division of Community Health and Humanities and Faculty of Medicine, Memorial University of Newfoundland, St. John’s, Canada
  • Abdullah Saif Division of Community Health and Humanities and Faculty of Medicine, Memorial University of Newfoundland, St. John’s, Canada
  • Amit Sundly Division of Community Health and Humanities and Faculty of Medicine, Memorial University of Newfoundland, St. John’s, Canada
  • Fern Brunger Division of Community Health and Humanities and Faculty of Medicine, Memorial University of Newfoundland, St. John’s, Canada
DOI: https://doi.org/10.7202/1060910ar
Keywords: risk, diagnostic tests, health professions, patient care, normality
Language(s): English

Abstract

In this commentary we describe the interplay between 1) contemporary popular and professional understandings of “risk” and “normality” in health and healthcare, and 2) the promotion by state and market forces of individual self-regulation of health. We draw upon the work of critical theorists who have described the relationship between risk, fear, and the notion of “normal” in health discourse to argue that these factors act, primarily via the popular media, to shape the discourse on, and overuse of, diagnostic tests in Canada.

Open issue, (c) Emanuelle Dufour
Published
2019-04-29
How to Cite
[1]
Borges J, Lee T, Saif A, Sundly A, Brunger F. Overuse of Diagnostic Tests in Canada: A Critical Perspective. Can. J. Bioeth. 2019;2:39-41. https://doi.org/10.7202/1060910ar.
Issue
Vol. 2 No. 2 (2019): Open Issue
Section
Critical commentaries

Copyright (c) 2019 Julia Borges, Tiffany Lee, Abdullah Saif, Amit Sundly, Fern Brunger

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

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