Medical Nemesis: The Expropriation of Health

Posted on 25 February, 2016 by Steve Solomon

Illich, Ivan

Original publication date: 1976
Original publisher: New York: Random House
Publication status: Out of print

Nemesis was a Greek deity who brought forth unintended consequences that ruined the efforts of those who pridefully or arrogantly tried to control fate. Illich asserts that modern medicine has become a major threat to our health, our nemesis. The book considers how medicine should fit into human life so it enhances spiritual awareness, independence and personal development. Instead, medicine has become something that destroys personal responsibility and courage.

Dependence on AMA-style medicine creates ill health on many levels. Many of the most expensive procedures have little or no proven health benefit or at best add but a few tortured years.

This book primarily expresses Illich’s opinions on what life is all about, how life should be led, what people actually are. Illich is an extreme libertarian who refuses to be suppressed and sees most of modern society as an effort to suppress the humanity of those in its grip.

Illich was born in 1926 in Vienna, Austria and grew up in Europe. He obtained degrees in history, philosophy and theology. In 1950 he came to New York where he worked as a parish priest in an Irish-Puerto Rican neighborhood. Then he moved to Puerto Rico and from there to Cuernavaca, Mexico.

Time it took to scan, OCR, copycheck and format this item was 8 hours (hr:min).

File size: 1.4 mb

This book has been downloaded 47 times.

Australian libraries are allowed to provide clients with electronic copies of copyrighted materials for purposes of study only when it has been first determined that these materials are out of print and cannot be obtained through the usual channels of retail trade. This is the case with Medical Nemesis.pdf. To obtain a copy of Medical Nemesis.pdf for personal study, fill out the following mandatory information form and click 'Request Copy'. The form will be sent to the officer in charge of the Soil And Health Library, Steve Solomon.

Within a few moments of clicking 'Request Copy' below you will receive an email containing your authorization and the URL where your requested copy is located online, allowing you proceed.

This is a free public library. Non-members do not have to pay any fees to obtain the materials in this library. But non-members will first be asked to make a small contribution before their download link is sent. Contribute or not, you will immediately receive an email containing the URL where the copy you have requested may be downloaded.

Please bookmark the URL you are about to get because under Australian library rules you are not allowed to request a copy of the same book more than one time unless you have a valid reason.

This procedure insures that the Soil And Health Library operates in compliance with Australian copyright rules. You may be absolutely assured that your name and email address will not be shared with anyone for any purpose whatsoever, unless, according to Australian copyright rules, an official of the Australian government wishes to inspect these requests. Orderly record of them must be retained for four years.

Declaration by library client

Date: Saturday, 29 Jul, 2017

To the officer in charge of the Soil And Health Library:

I request a reproduction of the book Medical Nemesis.pdf.

I declare that I require the reproduction for the purpose of research and study and I will not use it for any other purpose, and I have not previously been supplied with a reproduction of the same material by an authorized officer of the library.

Signed:

Declaration by authorized officer of the library

I declare that, after reasonable investigation, I am satisfied that a reproduction (not being a second-hand reproduction) of Medical Nemesis.pdf cannot be obtained within a reasonable time at an ordinary commercial price.

Signed: Steve Solomon, Soil and Health Librarian

By clicking the button below, I agree with the Terms & Conditions.