Planned obsolescence in public health services: the Prosthetic Mafia case

Abstract

Planned obsolescence is a set of actions undertaken by the producer to establish the gradual decay of some attribute of a commodity, artificially stimulating the demand for consumption. The literature on the phenomenon has identified only individuals as victims and objects as forms of expression. This study reports the occurrence of planned obsolescence in public health services. To this end, it consists of an exploratory-interpretative study with a qualitative approach, using the case study of the so-called Prosthetic Mafia. Data were collected by means of bibliographic and documentary research, resulting in three cases that expose the phenomenon occurrence in surgeries. The results were analyzed through an attempt to interpret the conditions, dynamics, and effects of the practice of surgical sabotage to stimulate the demand for medical services and medical-hospital equipment. This study outlines the elements that characterize planned obsolescence occurrence in medical services, inaugurating an agenda of future studies that address both the State being victimized by the practice and the phenomenon in the service sector.