This article is a reflective and interpretative analysis of the sketch “É bom pra quê?” presented at the TV program Fantástico, hosted by doctor Drauzio Varella, which was broadcast on national television during August and September 2010 in five episodes with an average duration of 10 minutes. The series aimed to discuss the use and abuse of medical treatments made with plant-derived products that have not been tested by scientific clinical studies, and to assess the prospects for herbal medicine. Within the climate of self-blaming, enhancement of fear, disqualification of paramedic knowledge and the centrality of the figure of the doctor, he examines the discursive basis to impose legitimacy on his arguments. From this perspective, the discursive strategies disseminated in the media through television, specifically in the sketch of ‘Fantástico’, ‘É bom pra quê?’, aim to maintain a hegemonic medical order, away from the proposed scientific neutrality and the absence of economic interests.
Knowledge; Science education; Ethnopharmacology; Television program; Dráuzio Varella