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Abstract This paper draws on empirical evidence from recent survey and qualitative research to develop an analysis of lay perceptions of modern medicine and medical practice. It builds on previous exploratory work and examines lay evaluation of a range of medical procedures which include medicines and drugs; elective surgery; reproductive technology and life saving technology. Overall, there was an ambivalence to modern medicine and the criteria used to evaluate modern medicine included whether it was: life saving or life threatening, quality of life enhancing or diminishing, natural or unnatural, restored independence or created dependence, and whether it was good value for money or not. The theoretical implications of these findings for understanding the structure and nature of lay perceptions are discussed.
Calnan et al. (Mon,) studied this question.