Summary Of White Coat, Black Hat

The readings for this week consisted of the second half of the book “White Coat, Black Hat: Adventures on the Dark Side of Medicine” by Carl Elliott. These chapters discuss medicalization and bioethics. With the technological advancement that we have seen in a mere decade, these topics become increasingly relevant to our society.
One of the recurring themes within Elliott’s writing is the idea that doctors and medicine know best. This idea that those with expert knowledge should decide what happens to our bodies leaves us with little choice in the matter. Expert knowledge in Elliott’s writing is depicted through the example of Dr. Fox (Elliott 2010). Despite the fact that Dr. Fox is not a real doctor, his perceived competence and air of authority is enough to make the audience believe him without further questioning (Elliott 2010). It
Furthermore, by exercising the perception of expert knowledge, the pharmaceutical industry achieves bio power. For example, in chapter five, Elliott discusses how the pharmaceutical industry medicalized several conditions to be able to market and sell more medications (Elliott 2010). While one may argue that medicalization is a harmless effect of business, or that medicalization can bring relief to previously ignored conditions, this argument ignores the potential danger that comes along with medicalization. One of the things we must consider when we take medication is that there are possible negative side effects. The idea is that doctors believe that the results of the medical treatment are worth any potential side effects. By “treating” conditions such as menopause, we are not only risking the health of women for the comfort of men, we are perpetuating the idea that menopause is mainly a negative and uncomfortable life event (Elliott 2010). Delaying the natural aging process in this manner puts many a person at the mercy of the medical industry (Elliott 2010). Bio power is also