Documenting the financialisation of the pharmaceutical industry

The aim of this paper is to explore the growing financialisation of the pharmaceutical industry from the beginning of the 1990s onwards and to consider its implications. It examines a number of features that demonstrate the increasing influence of the financial sector on the industry, including changing patterns of shareholder ownership, the importance attached to the idea of maximising shareholder value, the pay and share options given to company chief executives and other senior managers, the use of share buybacks, the increase in the outsourcing of manufacturing, and of research and development, along with the growing use of mergers and acquisitions and of borrowing to fund them. The paper examines data in relation to each of these areas in turn in order to provide evidence of the growing financialisation of the industry and to highlight some of its consequences for the industry’s task of developing medicines that enhance population health

Social Capital, Deprivation and Psychological Well-Being among Young Adolescents: A Multilevel Study from England and Wales.

Examining the mechanisms influencing mental health and life satisfaction simultaneously allows for a better understanding of adolescents psychological well-being. Six indicators of neighbourhood social capital (NSC), neighbourhood socioeconomic deprivation (SecD) and their association with psychological well-being among young adolescents aged 10-15 from England and Wales were investigated. Using a random sample of 5201 adolescents (7253 observations) from the UK Household Longitudinal Study merged to aggregated local area census measures, we fitted a series of multilevel models. The findings showed that not being worried about crime and friendship networks mitigated the negative effects of deprivation on adolescent's psychological well-being. These findings suggest that some forms of NSC may have a buffering and protective function, with the strongest effects in deprived neighbourhoods. We further found that psychological well-being of adolescents is dependent on both individual vulnerabilities and neighbourhood context. However caution is required if, and when public health policies are formulated to address this issue, given significant variations (27-36%) in the inter- and intra-individual psychological well-being were found among this group over time. Thus, policies designed to improve psychological well-being among adolescents should take into account the role of social processes in transmitting deprivation's effects, as well as the various forms of social capital

Assessing the overuse of medicines

The use of medicines has increased markedly in many countries over recent years, providing clear evidence of the increasing ‘pharmacaeuticalisation’ of society. This paper contributes to the sociological analysis of pharmaceuticalisation by starting to explore how we can begin to make judgements as to when and to what extent some medicines are being overused – an important aspect that, rather surprisingly, has not so far been the focus of attention those analysing the process. It considers the World Health Organisation's criteria for the ‘rational’ use of medicines, pointing to some of the issues they raise. It then develops a typology of over and underuse derived from these criteria. This provides a framework for the discussion of assessing overuse that focuses in particular on the widespread and increasing use of medicines that are not very effective for the conditions for which they are prescribed, and their use where the issue of clinical need is in doubt. Some of the factors that encourage overuse are also considered

'A pill for every ill': Explaining the expansion in medicine use

This paper explores the major factors underpinning the expansion in medicine use over recent decades, using England as an example. It begins by constructing a 'progressive' model of the expansion and considers its limitations; it then uses a framework of countervailing powers to examine the contribution of key actors in the field. It examines the commercial orientation of the pharmaceutical industry and the strategies companies deploy to generate demand for their products. It explores the part played by doctors as researchers and gatekeepers to medicines, considering how features of medical knowledge and practice contribute to, rather than curtail, the expansion. It considers the role of the public as consumers of medicines, and the role of governments and insurance companies in both facilitating and controlling medicine use.Pharmaceutical industry Medicines Medical profession Medicalisation Risk assessment Consumerism UK