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John Bradshaw (1918–1989): putting doctors on trial

  • Historical and Literary
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Abstract

John S. Bradshaw (1918–1989) qualified as a doctor, but spent most of his professional life as a writer and journalist. His best-known work, Doctors on Trial (1978), a polemical book which attacked modern medicine, concluded that “western doctors today are certainly more productive, directly or indirectly, of ill-health, in every sense, than of health”. This book was partly inspired by the writings of Ivan Illich, the Austrian priest and social philosopher. This article examines Bradshaw’s life and the influence of Illich’s thinking on Doctors on Trial.

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Acknowledgments

I am grateful to Toby Bradshaw and Dr. Richard Smith for their assistance in the preparation of this manuscript.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Cork University Hospital, Wilton, Cork, Ireland

    S. O’Mahony

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  1. S. O’Mahony
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Correspondence to S. O’Mahony.

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O’Mahony, S. John Bradshaw (1918–1989): putting doctors on trial. Ir J Med Sci 184, 559–563 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11845-014-1206-0

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11845-014-1206-0

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