This is a podcast from the archives of the BBC Reith Lectures.

This lecture in the series Unmasking Medicine given by Ian Kennedy was originally broadcast in 1980.

I've chosen to take as the topic of my last lecture, the doctrine of consumerism.

Consumerism is a form of social engineering.

In the hands of government, administrative agencies and courts,

it can be made to serve the perceived needs of the day, to protect and promote the interests of the

consumer, our interests. Ordinarily, when we think of consumerism, we think of a movement

concerned with the marketplace, the buying and selling of goods,

making sure that the buyer doesn't get a pig in a poke,

that he should not be taken advantage of in ways which offend current notions of fairness.

But consumerism isn't limited to the marketplace.

It's just as concerned with the supply of services as with that of goods.

The consumer becomes the client rather than the shopper.

What does consumerism have to offer in the context of the practice of medicine?

You will recall that throughout my analysis of medicine over the past weeks,

I've repeatedly urged on you the need to reshape medicine so that it can better serve our needs.

To the extent that this reshaping calls for political action by government,

it is to government we must address our observations.

I've also stressed the need for us as ordinary people

to reclaim some of the power we've chosen to surrender to medicine and medicine men.

Does consumerism offer a means to redress this imbalance of power?

In the practice of medicine, the consumer is the patient.

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