Chapter 6: The Ideology of Machines: Medical Technology

In Chapter 6, Postman describes how technology has redefined culture, emphasizing on medical practices. Postman describes American medicine as being dominated by technology, “the weapon with which disease and illness would be vanquished” (97). And I know the relationship between and doctor and a patient is not what it once was, today the relationship is focused on the disease, not the patient, and whatever can be done to cure the disease, “… doctors do not merely use technologies but are used by them” (105). However, the advantage of technology in medicine is a process, these leaps and bounds did not happen overnight, they have taken time. Because of doctors increasing reliance on technology in medicine, doctors expect more out of the machines and put less enfaces on listening to the patient. I believe this has caused doctors to make more mistakes and prescribe countless prescriptions that are unnecessary and have outrageous side-effects, some of which I have experienced first-hand and it took countless phone call and complaint to get my medication changed. These machines are changing where doctors are focusing their time; they now focus their time on the disease and not the patient. Doctors do not make friendly house calls like they used too.
For the last ten day I have had a migraine that has not broken. I called my doctors nurse three times to discuss this particular headache and the side effects of another medication I am on. The first phone calls nothing happened. During second phone call the put me on some kind of steroid to hopefully break the cycle of this particular migraine. When I went to the pharmacy to pick-up the steroid they told me a side effect was insomnia. A side effect of the first medication is that I can’t sleep and know they want to put me on a drug that causes insomnia! And finally during the third phone call they took me off the first drug and are switching me to a different drug. When I made the first phone call I told the nurse I would be in Sioux Fall, South Dakota on Friday for my MRI and I really wanted to see my specialist, he did not want to see me until he had the results of the MRI and being a teacher, I will not be able to make it make to Sioux Falls until October 29. I really wish my doctor would listen to all the concerns I have about the medication he has put me on, because I am ready to take myself off of everything! Does my doctor have my best interests or the diseases best interest in mind when he is making these decisions?