Dr. Golem: How to Think about Medicine

by Harry Collins, Trevor Pinch

Overview

A creature of Jewish mythology, a golem is an animated being made by man from clay and water who knows neither his own strength nor the extent of his ignorance. Like science and technology, the subjects of Harry Collins and Trevor Pinch's previous volumes, medicine is also a golem, and this Dr. Golem should not be blamed for its mistakes—they are, after all, our mistakes. The problem lies in its well-meaning clumsiness.

Dr. Golem explores some of the mysteries and complexities of medicine while untangling the inherent conundrums of scientific research and highlighting its vagaries. Driven by the question of what to do in the face of the fallibility of medicine, Dr. Golem encourages a more inquisitive attitude toward the explanations and accounts offered by medical science. In eight chapters devoted to case studies of modern medicine, Collins and Pinch consider the prevalence of tonsillectomies, the placebo effect and randomized control trials, bogus doctors, CPR, the efficacy of Vitamin C in fighting cancer, chronic fatigue syndrome, AIDS cures, and vaccination. They also examine the tension between the conflicting faces of medicine: medicine as science versus medicine as a source of succor; the interests of an individual versus the interests of a group; and the benefits in the short term versus success rates in the long term. Throughout, Collins and Pinch remind readers that medical science is an economic as well as a social consideration, encapsulated for the authors in the timeless struggle to balance the good health of the many—with vaccinations, for instance—with the good health of a few—those who have adverse reactions to the vaccine.

In an age when the deaths of research subjects, the early termination of clinical trials, and the research guidelines for stem cells are front-page news, Dr. Golem is a timely analysis of the limitations of medicine that never loses sight of its strengths.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780226113678
Publisher:	University of Chicago Press
Publication date:	04/01/2008
Edition description:	New Edition
Pages:	258
Product dimensions:	5.00(w) x 7.70(h) x 0.90(d)

About the Author

Harry Collins is the Distinguished Research Professor of Sociology and director of the Centre for the Study of Knowledge, Expertise, and Science at Cardiff University, and a fellow of the British Academy.


Trevor Pinch is professor in and chair of the Department of Science and Technology Studies and professor of sociology at Cornell University. Together, they are the authors of The Golem: What You Should Know about Science and The Golem at Large: What You Should Know about Technology.

Table of Contents

Preface and Acknowledgments
Introduction - Medicine as Science and Medicine as Succor
1. The Hole in the Heart of Medicine: The Placebo Effect
2. Faking It for Real: Bogus Doctors
3. Tonsils: Diagnosing and Dealing with Uncertainty
4. Alternative Medicine: The Cases of Vitamin C and Cancer
5. Yuppie Flu, Fibromyalgia, and Other Contested Diseases
6. Defying Death: Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation (CPR)
7. The AIDS Activists
8. Vaccination and Parents' Rights: Mumps, Measles, Rubella (MMR), and Pertussis
Conclusion - The Themes Revisited
Notes
Bibliography
Index

Editorial Reviews

"Dr. Golem is a very welcome third volume in Harry Collins and Trevor Pinch’s well-known ‘Golem’ series dealing with the nature and ironies of science and technology….Like the other volumes in the series, Dr. Golem works wonderfully well as an introductory text to the sociological analysis of medicine.”

British Journal for the History of Science - Neil Pemberton

Collins and Pinch carefully tease out key conflicts in the way that medical knowledge is constructed and used and endeavor to show how necessarily complicated medical decision-making must be. . . . They investigate three important issues that lie at the core of medicine’s uncertainty: individual versus collective interests; medicine as a science versus a healing art; and the nature of medical expertise. . . . The authors neither jump on the critical bandwagon nor apologize for medicine’s failings, rather they show that the inherent discrepancy between the pace of medical discovery and the need for immediate succour is one that must be addressed jointly by physician and patient.

Lancet - Noah Raizman

"This gem of a book is well written, thought provoking, and an enjoyable read. Highly Recommended."

Choice

The authors write as patients as well as sociologists, and the chapter on the MMR [vaccine], on which subject Collins and Pinch have diametrically opposed attitudes, is particularly effective. . . . The authors want medicine to be more scientific, not less so. Their volume is hardly a plea for alternative medicine or even for the uncritical democratization of conventional medicine. Rather it is an analysis of the problems of contemporary medical knowledge, and is stronger on diagnosis than on prescription.

Nature - W. F. Bynum

"In provoking discussion and debate, perhaps [the book] will help make medicine seem less a clumsy Golem and more the insightful, compassionate, yet fallible creature to whom some of us were attracted."

JAMA - Omar A. Khan

"Why might it be better for you to be treated by a bogus doctor than a real one? How would medicine deal with the imaginary condition Undifferentiated Broken Limb? Such examples make serious points. Using lessons from the sociology of medicine, the authors show the ways in which clinical trials have changed in method owing to challenges from informed AIDS activists and 'rogue' cancer researchers. A vividly detailed explanation of the placebo effect is the base of the book's argument that medical knowledge is limited and provisional. A related strand of argument is an examination of the tension between medicine as "succour" for the individual and medicine as a (theoretically) perfectible science. What makes sense for one person may be in conflict with what is best for everyone. Thus the authors offer an illuminating way of thinking about 'alternative' medicine or the MMR vaccine scare. If you do not vaccinate your child for fear of some risk, you put the population as a whole at greater risk of epidemic. Some measure of informed scepticism is often warranted, but the medical establishment is rarely the enemy, the authors sensibly conclude."

The Guardian - Steven Poole

The writing is interested, intelligent, and explanatory. . . . Much of the book’s quality comes from its steady, generally clear-sighted explanation of some of the ordinary within medicine.”

Times Literary Supplement - Druin Burch

"Beyond its appeal to a reading public, Dr. Golem would make a useful addition to bioethics and medical sociology courses at undergraduate and graduate levels. Readers may not always agree with Collins and Pinch’s views, but they will be intrigued by them."

Kathy Charmazn Journal of Sociology

It isn’t enough, [Collins and Pinch] contend, for people to know about medicine. They must know what to do with that knowledge. For example, while it is perfectly understandable for parents to want to make the decision about, say, vaccinating their children, they must weight the implication of widespread decisions against vaccination to make their final judgment. And just what is one’s obligation to the greater good when personal health is at stake? While that is a trick question with no unanimously subscribed correct answer, Collins and Pinch present the kind of information that is helpful when thinking about the issue.

Booklist

"A set of interesting and sometimes humorous or even alarming stories from the recent history of medicine, including accounts of the debates around whether vitamin C prevents cancer, what kind of illness is Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, and whether MMR vaccine causes autism....[Dr. Golem] is a refreshing way to understand a lot of what goes on
behind the white coats."

International Journal of Epidemiology - Mel Bartley

"Beyond its appeal to a reading public, Dr. Golem would make a useful addition to bioethics and medical sociology courses at undergraduate and graduate levels. Readers may not always agree with Collins and Pinch’s views, but they will be intrigued by them."

American Journal of Sociology - Kathy Charmaz

“It isn’t enough, [Collins and Pinch] contend, for people to know about medicine. They must know what to do with that knowledge. For example, while it is perfectly understandable for parents to want to make the decision about, say, vaccinating their children, they must weight the implication of widespread decisions against vaccination to make their final judgment. And just what is one’s obligation to the greater good when personal health is at stake? While that is a trick question with no unanimously subscribed correct answer, Collins and Pinch present the kind of information that is helpful when thinking about the issue.

Booklist

Dr. Golem is a very welcome third volume in Harry Collins and Trevor Pinch’s well-known ‘Golem’ series dealing with the nature and ironies of science and technology….Like the other volumes in the series, Dr. Golem works wonderfully well as an introductory text to the sociological analysis of medicine.”

— Neil Pemberton

British Journal for the History of Science

Beyond its appeal to a reading public, Dr. Golem would make a useful addition to bioethics and medical sociology courses at undergraduate and graduate levels. Readers may not always agree with Collins and Pinch’s views, but they will be intrigued by them.

— Kathy Charmaz

American Journal of Sociology

In provoking discussion and debate, perhaps [the book] will help make medicine seem less a clumsy Golem and more the insightful, compassionate, yet fallible creature to whom some of us were attracted.

— Omar A. Khan

JAMA

The writing is interested, intelligent, and explanatory. . . . Much of the book’s quality comes from its steady, generally clear-sighted explanation of some of the ordinary within medicine.”

— Druin Burch

Times Literary Supplement

A set of interesting and sometimes humorous or even alarming stories from the recent history of medicine, including accounts of the debates around whether vitamin C prevents cancer, what kind of illness is Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, and whether MMR vaccine causes autism....[Dr. Golem] is a refreshing way to understand a lot of what goes on

behind the white coats.

— Mel Bartley

International Journal of Epidemiology

Collins and Pinch carefully tease out key conflicts in the way that medical knowledge is constructed and used and endeavor to show how necessarily complicated medical decision-making must be. . . . They investigate three important issues that lie at the core of medicine’s uncertainty: individual versus collective interests; medicine as a science versus a healing art; and the nature of medical expertise. . . . The authors neither jump on the critical bandwagon nor apologize for medicine’s failings, rather they show that the inherent discrepancy between the pace of medical discovery and the need for immediate succour is one that must be addressed jointly by physician and patient.”

— Noah Raizman

Lancet

The authors write as patients as well as sociologists, and the chapter on the MMR [vaccine], on which subject Collins and Pinch have diametrically opposed attitudes, is particularly effective. . . . The authors want medicine to be more scientific, not less so. Their volume is hardly a plea for alternative medicine or even for the uncritical democratization of conventional medicine. Rather it is an analysis of the problems of contemporary medical knowledge, and is stronger on diagnosis than on prescription.”

— W. F. Bynum

Nature

Why might it be better for you to be treated by a bogus doctor than a real one? How would medicine deal with the imaginary condition Undifferentiated Broken Limb? Such examples make serious points. Using lessons from the sociology of medicine, the authors show the ways in which clinical trials have changed in method owing to challenges from informed AIDS activists and 'rogue' cancer researchers. A vividly detailed explanation of the placebo effect is the base of the book's argument that medical knowledge is limited and provisional. A related strand of argument is an examination of the tension between medicine as "succour" for the individual and medicine as a (theoretically) perfectible science. What makes sense for one person may be in conflict with what is best for everyone. Thus the authors offer an illuminating way of thinking about 'alternative' medicine or the MMR vaccine scare. If you do not vaccinate your child for fear of some risk, you put the population as a whole at greater risk of epidemic. Some measure of informed scepticism is often warranted, but the medical establishment is rarely the enemy, the authors sensibly conclude.

— Steven Poole

The Guardian