Advances in Applied Sociology 2012. Vol.2, No.4, 237-244 Published Online December 2012 in SciRes (http://www.SciRP.org/journal/aasoci) http://dx.doi.org/10.4236/aasoci.2012.24031 Copyright © 2012 SciRes. 237 Profit from Sickness: The Case of Technology-Driven Healthcare Suman Hazarika 1 , Akhil Ranjan Dutta 2 1 Department of Radiology, International Hospital, Guwahati, India 2 Department of Political Science, Gauhati University, Guwahati, India Email: sumanhazarika@rediffmail.com Received July 26 th , 2012; revised August 29 th , 2012; accepted September 13 th , 2012 The increasing corporatization and growing dependence of the healthcare system on technology has brought about a radical transformation to the entire mission of the healthcare system. Based on the profit motive, the pharmaceutical and technological enterprises that hugely control the healthcare system today have so transformed the system that it has now emerged as one of the most profiteering domains. The historical tragedy is that the profit is earned over sickness. There has indeed been an attempt to generate sickness as demanded both by health care devices as well as by the pharmaceutical industries having det- rimental impact on people’s right to health. Present paper, which critically questions the logic and motives of the emerging healthcare system, argues that under the contemporary neo-liberal economies, diseases and patients are objects of business interests of the largely privatized for-profit healthcare industry. Profit from these objects emerges not only through sale of drugs or cure, but also from expensive hi-tech testing and “treatment” technologies. Creation of new patients by diagnosing more diseases to treat is contributed by a large medical-industrial complex today. The paper is of the view that remedies to these crises de- mand radical a U-turn to the system itself wherein the health care seekers rather than the health care pro- viders would occupy the center stage. Keywords: Epidemics; Pharmaceutical Industry; Medical-Industrial Complex; Mass Killer; Cocktail Vaccines Introduction Concerned with less than adequate quality of medical educa- tion and the consequent degradation of the healthcare system of America, in the early part of 20th century, Abraham Flexner, an educationist, was commissioned by the Carnegie Foundation to systematically review the state of medical education in the American continent. After a thorough study and visit to all the medical schools of the United States of America and Canada, he submitted a report in 1910. His 1910 report, Medical Educa- tion in the United States and Canada, is a classic work often cited for its importance even today. Flexner’s report fueled change by criticizing the mediocre quality and profit motive of many schools and teachers, the inadequate curricula and facili- ties at a number of schools, and the non-scientific approach to preparation for the profession (Cooke, Irby, Sullivan, & Lud- merer, 2006). Based on Flexner’s observation, a massive shift in the ways of medical education had ensued and over the next few decades, the medical education system evolved into one of the finest in the world. However, one of the concerns expressed in Flexner’s observation on the medical education and health- care system regarding the motive to profit affecting its quality seems to persist even after a century. Current scenario in the healthcare system has precipitated pressure on physicians to increase their clinical productivity; that is, to generate revenues by providing care for paying patients. Mounting clinical chores leave less time for the academic pursuit of the medical sciences. Market-driven economy has brought in the health administra- tors and managers to manage the for-profit healthcare system. Changing the care delivery system to an industry that sales its service, nevertheless, has created its own evils. Today, health- care managers think in terms of “patient throughput”, “market share”, “bed occupancy”, “wait time”, “utilization rate”, and finally, “return on investment”. It has become a culture of business rather than a culture of service. In a world polarized by economic divide, health care facili- ties are built by entrepreneurs to earn money. Today, giant pharmaceutical corporations are some of the most profitable companies with unimaginable power over the healthcare system and people. It is time to see how healthcare has evolved into an industry seeking big profits at any cost. Perspective on Being Sick and Sickness of Body In the contemporary neoliberal economies, diseases and pa- tients are objects of business interest of the largely privatized for-profit healthcare industry. Profit from these objects emerges not only through sale of drugs or cure, but also from expensive hi-tech testing and “treatment” technologies. Creation of new patients by diagnosing more diseases to treat is contributed by a large medical-industrial complex of diagnostic technologies such as the expensive CT scan, MRI, ultrasound equipment, and more sophisticated and evolving laboratory medical tech- nologies like molecular diagnostics, electron microscopy so on and so forth. While technology-driven modern medical care tends to ana- lyze the functionality of bodily organs to repair or restore them to the best possible level, it also reduces the human being into biological machines in need of repair. Evolution of Medical-Industrial Complex In 1980, Relman in his essay on medical-industrial complex, argued that silent rise of investor-owned businesses was taking