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How do drugs get to the market? What controls are there and what
procedures for monitoring their effects? And how adequate are the
regulators in protecting public health when new drugs have serious
side effects? The Therapeutic Nightmare tells the story of the
sleeping pill Halcion - a story which is far from over. First
marketed in the 1970s, Halcion has been taken by millions of
patients around the world. For many years it has been associated
with serious adverse effects such as amnesia, hallucinations,
aggression and, in extreme cases, homicide. Thirteen years after
its first release, it was banned by the British government. It
remains on sale in the United States and many other countries. This
book explains why patients have come to be exposed to Halcion's
risks and examines the corporate interests of the manufacturers,
the professional interests of the scientists and medical
researchers and the interests of patients in safe and effective
medication. It reveals how these contending forces shape the
regulatory decision-making process about drug safety. As the number
of new drugs and health products grows, a major challenge facing
regulators and the medical profession is how to put the interests
of public health decisively and consistently above the commercial
interests of the drugs industry, while becoming more accountable to
patient and consumer organizations.
Britain's high street revolution has made retailing one of the most
important and dynamic sectorsof the British economy in the last
twenty years. It has had an irreversible impact on our towns and
cities and, for many people, transformed shopping from an
unattractive domestic chore to a pleasurable 'leisure 'experience',
offering consumers an everchanging array of 'disposable dreams'.
The resulting 'retail culture' is everywhere - it has colonised
huge areas of our social life outside the traditional high street,
from sporting venues to arts centres, from railway termini to
museums. Many see it as the epitome of Thatcher's Britain, breeding
acquisitive individualism and destroying our traditional
manufacturing base. Others see it as a potential saviour of an
ailing economy. Yet to date there has been no thorough analysis of
this all-pervasive phenomenon, from its economic roots to its
profound social effects. In Consuming Passion, Carl Gardner and
Julie Sheppard have written the first overall study of the 'retail
revolution' - a controversial and hard-hitting look at where
retailing has come from, what it has achieved and where it is
going. Key issues such as the role of design, the growth of the
supermarket and shopping centre and the poor conditions of retail
employment are all minutely examined. The book also discusses the
very real pleasures that consumers gain from today's enhanced
shopping experience. The authors take an iconoclastic look at some
of the powerful myths that have sprung up around retail: 'the death
of the high street' scenario; the central role of credit; retailing
as a major creator of employment; and the imminent possibility of
'retail saturation'. A fascinating book for everyone who likes
shopping - and even those who hate it. First published 1989.
How do drugs get to the market? What controls are there and what
procedures for monitoring their effects? And how adequate are the
regulators in protecting public health when new drugs have serious
side effects? The Therapeutic Nightmare tells the story of the
sleeping pill Halcion - a story which is far from over. First
marketed in the 1970s, Halcion has been taken by millions of
patients around the world. For many years it has been associated
with serious adverse effects such as amnesia, hallucinations,
aggression and, in extreme cases, homicide. Thirteen years after
its first release, it was banned by the British government. It
remains on sale in the United States and many other countries. This
book explains why patients have come to be exposed to Halcion's
risks and examines the corporate interests of the manufacturers,
the professional interests of the scientists and medical
researchers and the interests of patients in safe and effective
medication. It reveals how these contending forces shape the
regulatory decision-making process about drug safety. As the number
of new drugs and health products grows, a major challenge facing
regulators and the medical profession is how to put the interests
of public health decisively and consistently above the commercial
interests of the drugs industry, while becoming more accountable to
patient and consumer organizations.
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