BETWEEN THE PRECARIZATION AND COMMERCIALIZATION OF MEDICINE: HAS THE DOCTOR BECOME AN ENTREPRENEUR?

Abstract

Medicine has undergone significant changes over time, especially considering the current social context (¿). This is because, previously, the physician was seen as an authority by patients, who accepted all treatment decisions without any objection. Thus, medical activity was seen as an object of admiration and contemplation, endowed with public notoriety and economic prestige. Consequently, in the social imagination—reflected in artistic productions such as soap operas and films—these professionals were portrayed as respected, successful individuals in perfect health. This stereotype reflected and, at the same time, reinforced the symbolic projection of this "hero-doctor," whose image still permeates the collective and media subconscious today. Today, however, we observe a reality distinct from that once attributed to medical professionals. In this sense, it is appropriate to raise some questions about the myth of "Prometheus Bound" and the current medical professional condition, in order to provoke reflection on the increasingly common model of precariousness and pejotization of medicine. Drawing this parallel between Prometheus and the contemporary physician is justified by the discrepancy between the ethical nature of medicine and the challenges faced by the demands of the job market, in addition to contrasting with the ideal of the doctor-priest perpetuated in the social imagination. According to the myth, Prometheus was punished by Jupiter for opposing his intention to condemn humanity to an irrational condition. Moved by this intention, Prometheus managed to seize a spark from the celestial fire, thus endowing man with reason and the faculties necessary for the cultivation of intelligence, science, and the arts. Thus, as punishment, he was chained to a rock by Zeus, condemned to have his liver devoured daily by a vulture for all eternity. In light of this mythical narrative and considering the current scenario of commodification and devaluation of medicine, the following reflection is proposed, which perhaps constitutes a provocation that remains unanswered: have doctors become entrepreneurs? Are doctors, like Prometheus, being punished by a system that incessantly consumes them? This article then addresses ethical, legal, and jurisprudential issues that permeate the topic of precariousness and the "pejotization" of medicine. Finally, it aims to present proactive measures that contribute to overcoming the labor adversities and legal repercussions experienced by healthcare professionals in the contemporary world.