Building Belief Systems and Medical Ethics: The Covid-19 Controversies

Gerard Mondello

No 2020-35, GREDEG Working Papers from Groupe de REcherche en Droit, Economie, Gestion (GREDEG CNRS), Université Côte d'Azur, France

Abstract: The Covid-19 pandemic upset both the economies of most countries, but also the field of medical science. As never, public opinion has interfered in the choice of therapeutic trials as evidenced by the controversies surrounding protocols using hydroxychloroquine. The public's choice for these treatments is explained as the application of a kind of individual "Pascal's wager". This article analyses the formation of the belief system of individuals by applying ambiguity theory's insights and information entropy. It shows that the public's choices are the result of efficient communication strategies chosen by these treatments' promoters.

Keywords: Uncertainty Theory; Ambiguity; Pharmacy; Medicine (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: D81 I1 I18 I19 L65 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 28 pages
Date: 2020-07
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-upt
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Related works:
Working Paper: BUILDING BELIEF SYSTEMS AND MEDICAL ETHICS: THE COVID-19 CONTROVERSIES (2021)
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gre:wpaper:2020-35

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