Pharmaceuticalisation of Society

Speaker: Professor John Abraham (Sussex)
Date: Wednesday 19 May 2010
Time: 18:15

Social science interest in pharmaceuticals has intensified, heightening awareness of 'pharmaceuticalisation'.

In this talk I want to set out some of the conceptual and empirical landscape that can provide a framework for understanding pharmaceuticalisation of society. I suggest that it should be understood by reference to five main bio-sociological explanatory factors: biomedicalism; medicalisation; pharmaceutical industry promotion/marketing; consumerism; and regulatory-state ideology/policy.

The biomedicalism thesis, which claims that expansion of drug treatment reflects advances in biomedical science to meet health needs, is, I contend, of limited plausibility because a significant amount of growth in pharmaceuticalisation is inconsistent with scientific evidence, and because drug innovations offering significant therapeutic advance have been declining across the sector, including areas of major health need.

Some elements of consumerism have undermined pharmaceuticalisation, even causing de-pharmaceuticalisation in some therapeutic sub-fields. However, other aspects of consumerism, together with industry promotion, medicalisation, and deregulatory state policies are found to be drivers of increased pharmaceuticalisation in ways that are largely outside, or sub-optimal for, significant therapeutic advances in the interests of public health.