A social scientific view on the development of pharmacy and therapeutics committees

In Scandinavia pharmacy and therapeutics committees have been established as a strategy for the control of drug use to an increasing extent during the last two decades. The paper describes the goals and means of the committees and discusses the dynamics in the social development leading to the expansion of the committees as a control-strategy. The analysis includes a discussion of the development since World War II in drug production, the public health sector and the drug control system concerning the economical, technological and scientific development and the development in organization of work. Finally a discussion of interested parties around the committees is included.