The Medicalization of Risk

Abstract

The medicalization of risk, which has become an idol for some, misleads contemporary society about the true purpose of life and the capabilities of medicine to provide health and eternal life. Preventive medicine provides countless strategies to medicalize risk, that is, to treat the risk of possible illness and death as a medical problem requiring medical solutions. Pharmaceuticals have become a powerful force in modern culture being consumed to alleviate human suffering, modify vulnerabilities, and reduce the risk of future morbid events.

The church did not argue whether drugs were intrinsically bad or sinful, but they considered it a problem when a real good is turned into an idol. Idolatry not only endangers man's relationship with God, but also disrupts human relationships. This leads to the obsession with obtaining good health and at the same time the fear of a possible illness, without any objective basis for this.