The Power of Pills

Social, Ethical and Legal Issues in Drug Development, Marketing and Pricing

Edited by Jillian Clare Cohen, Patricia Illingworth, Udo Schuklenk

Publication date:

20 October 2006

Length of book:

320 pages

Publisher

Pluto Press

ISBN-13: 9781849642712

Why does one-third of the global population not have access to essential medicines? What drives new drug research priorities? How do we manage the ethical, legal and social challenges associated with improving drug access? Answering these questions and more, this book is one of the first comprehensive and critical guides to global pharmaceutical policy issues.

This multidisciplinary book covers core issues in clear, short chapters. It is a one-stop resource for students, policy makers and academics. Bringing together the insights of over thirty different specialists from around the world, this book discusses:

- current regulation of the industry
- ethical issues in developing and distributing drugs
- how it prices and markets drugs
- recommendations on how to improve pharmaceutical policy
- the importance of pharmaceuticals
- the structure of the pharmaceutical industry
- what drugs are needed on a world wide scale

Part 1: Pharmaceutical Industry, Profits and Obligations
1. The Pharmaceutical Industry and the Pursuit of Profits by Joel Lexchin
2. Social, Ethical and Legal Issues in Drug Development, Marketing and Pricing Policies: ‘Setting Priorities: Pharmaceuticals as Private Organizations and the Duty to Make Money/Maximize Profits’ by Kristina M. Lybecker
3. The Pharmaceutical Industry and its Obligations in the Developing World by Ann Mills, Patricia Werhane, and Michael Gorman
4. Drug Companies as Organizational Hybrids by Warren Kaplan
5. Physicians and the Pharmaceutical Industry: A Symbiotic Relationship? by Ian E Marshall
6. Industry Perspectives on Equity, Access and Corporate Social Responsibility: A View from the Inside by Robert A Freeman
Part 2: Justice – Medicines as Global Public Goods
1. Pharmaceuticals, Public Health and the Law: A Public Health Perspective by W.E. Parmet
2. Access to Medications and Global Justice by David. Resnik
3. Pharmacogenetics and Global (In)Justice by Soren Holm
Part 3: The Social, Ethical and Political Challenge: Neglected Diseases
1. The Enduring Crisis in Neglected Diseases by Nathan Ford
2. Moving Beyond Charity for R&D for Neglected Diseases by J. Orbinski and B. Burciul
3. Neglected Disease Research: Health Needs and New Models for R&D by Aidan Hollis
4. Advance Purchase Commitments: Moral and Practical Problems by Donald W. Light
5. Harnessing the Power of Pharmaceutical Innovation by Thomas Pogge
Part 4: Patents and Access to Medicines
1. Patents, Profits, and the Price of Pills: Implications for Access and Availability by Michael J Selgelid and Eline M. Sepers
2. Fair Followers Expanding Access to Generic Pharmaceuticals for Low-Income Populations by Kevin Outterson
3. Abolishing the Product Patent: A Step Forward for Global Access to Drugs by Adam Mannan and Alan Story
4. Trading Health for Profit: Bilateral and Regional Free Trade Agreements Affecting Domestic Intellectual Property Rules on Pharmaceuticals by Lisa Forman
Part 5: Research Ethics å
1. Human Genomic Research Ethics: Changing the Rules by Steven H. Miles
2. Assumptions in the Standard of Care Debate by Florencia Luna
Part 6: Political Activism and Treatment Access
1. Medicines for All? Commitment and Compromise in the Fight for
Canada’s Law on Compulsory Licensing for Export by Richard Elliot
2. Placing Access to Essential Medicine on the Human Rights Agenda by Brook K. Baker
Part 7: National Responsibilities
1. Producing Affordable Medicines in South Africa by Joao L. Carapinha
2. National Responsibility in the Provision of Basic Medicine by Kinsley Wilson, Laura Esmail and Jillian Clare Cohen
3. Pharmaceutical Cost-Effectiveness Pricing: Developing and Protecting a Global Ideal Form by Thomas A. Faunce
Index

'An impressive collection of essays focusing on one of the most pressing issues of our time. The Power of Pills provides the resources for a debate we urgently need to have'