Ciencia, trabajo y piedad: el quehacer farmacéutico en la España de la primera mitad del XVIII / Science, work and piety: pharmaceutical activity in the Spain of the first half of the 18th

La llegada de la dinastía Borbón a España supuso cambios trascendentales que habrían de afectar no sólo a la administración o a la economía, sino a todo el orden social. La profesión farmacéutica no permaneció al margen de estos cambios. Nuestro propósito es analizar los modos en que se efectuó esta adaptación y los procedimientos a los que los boticarios ilustrados recurrieron para asentarse en el sistema pergeñado por la nueva dinastía. La aceptación de la nueva situación política y social por parte del colectivo farmacéutico no fue rupturista; la profesión supo valorar su pasado y adaptarlo a las nuevas necesidades de los tiempos. El proceso no fue lineal, ni exitoso en todos sus frentes; se nos presenta pleno de ambigüedades, de arduas negociaciones y plagado de intereses personales. Pero estos trabajos acometidos en la primera mitad del XVIII, permitieron los avances, más nítidos, en ocasiones espectaculares, de los que gozó la profesión farmacéutica en el reinado de Carlos III (AU)

The arrival of the Bourbon dynasty in Spain introduced changes that would affect not only the administration or the economy, but the entire social order. The pharmacy profession did not stand apart from these changes. Our purpose is to analyze the ways in which this adaptation was made and the procedures to which the illustrated apothecaries resorted to settle in the system conceived by the new dynasty. Acceptance of the new political and social situation on the part of pharmacists did not rupture, the profession could appreciate their past and adapt to the changing needs of the times. The process was not linear, or successful on all fronts, appears to us full of ambiguities, of arduous negotiations and full of personal interest. But these activities started in the first half of the eighteenth century, allowed the progress, the sharper, sometimes spectacular, of those who enjoyed the pharmacy profession in the reign of Carlos III (AU)

Trends and events in American pharmacy, 1852-2002.

The mid-19th century was a watershed for the governance of American pharmacy, marked by the founding of APhA in 1852 and the recognition that pharmacists had a duty to protect patients' health and welfare. Drug therapy has undergone a dramatic transformation since the pharmacological shotgun approach of the mid-1880s, propelled by progress in the biomedical sciences, including the recent genetics revolution. The rising number and cost of prescriptions is a leading public policy issue and a contributing factor to the current shortage of pharmacists.

[Images of patients in a modernising society: the Netherlands, 1880-1920]. / Patientenbeelden in een moderniserende samenleving: Nederland, 1880-1920.

In this essay it is argued that advertisements for medicines in the lay press constitute an important source for the patient in medical history. At first sight, advertisements only seem to document the supply side of the medical market. However, the image of the proactive manufacturer offering his goods to passive consumers is a misleading one. For a manufacturer to get and remain in business, it was crucial to develop a sensitive antenna for the needs of the public. In a highly commercial domain like health care around 1900 production, distribution and consumption of medicines constituted an interactive cycle of which advertisements were a part. They mirror a subtle play with dormant notions about health, illness and healing. When looking at it this way, the health care system (or rather: the medical market) becomes a place where meaning is being constructed, negotiated and exchanged. Thus, by taking a closer look at advertisements, the demand side comes in sight as well. By using advertisements for medicines in the lay press as a source, it seems possible to overcome the objection that much patient history is still too much focused on the academy and on physicians.

Lithium revisited: savings brought about by the use of lithium, 1970-1991.

BACKGROUND: Recent estimates of the cost of manic-depressive illness totaled roughly $45 billion in 1991. Using data from the Epidemiological Catchment Area (ECA) study, this study estimates the savings brought about by the use of lithium between 1970 and 1991. METHODS: Total savings are the difference between estimated actual costs and projected costs had lithium never been introduced. Actual yearly costs were interpolated from data for 1970 and 1991, and projected costs were obtained by adjusting 1970 costs with Consumer Price Index (CPI) and population inflaters. All costs for 1970 were obtained using methods almost identical to those used to calculate the 1991 costs of manic-depressive illness, presented in a previous publication. All savings are presented in 1991 dollars. RESULTS: Between 1970 and 1991, lithium saved over $170 billion, or roughly over $8 billion per year. Approximately $15 billion in direct costs, which included inpatient and outpatient care as well as research, was saved between 1970 and 1991. The savings are more dramatic for indirect costs, which include the lost productivity of wage-earners, homemakers, family caregivers, and individuals who are in institutions or who committed suicide; these totaled roughly $155 billion. CONCLUSIONS: Our results suggest that, although manic-depressive illness is still costly, lithium has been tremendously successful in treating the illness, and has provided enormous financial savings in the process.

Alguns aspectos da variaçäo de preços de medicamentos no Brasil entre os anos de 1980 a 2001-2vol / Some aspects of medicine prices variation in Brazil from 1980 to 2001

Foi realizado um estudo prospectivo sobre 137 medicamentos, a partir de listas de padronizaçäo vigentes em 1988 no Hospital Odair Pacheco Pedroso, em Cotia - SP, Brasil. O período analisado foi de 1980 a 2001, inclusive. Buscaram-se os produtos concorrentes entre si, com mesma composiçäo e forma farmacêutica e colheram-se os preços de cada um de fontes comumente usadas entre a comunidade, com freqüência anual. No total, foram analisadas 1.730 especialidades farmacêuticas e 38.060 preços, corrigidos por três indexadores: BTN, dólar comercial e valor do salário mínimo. Embora vários produtos tenham sido lançados no mercado após o início do estudo, observou-se uma alta volatibilidade na presença...

Pharmaceuticals issue brief: on-line pharmacy.

This issue has picked up momentum in the last few months on the state and federal level spurred by legislation enacted in the previous session. Legislators this year are caught in the uncomfortable position of protecting their constituents through the regulation of potentially unsafe on-line drug dispensing, while simultaneously allowing consumers the benefits of easy access to drugs over the internet.

[Wholesale dealers and apothecaries in Rouen]. / Les marchands grossiers et les apothicaires rouennais.

Wholesale dealers are merchants who sell only great amounts of drugs. Since the XVIth century, the conditions under which they practiced were governed by apothecaries' statutes. The control of drugs, which was performed by apothecaries, was often contested by wholesale dealers. After many proceedings, the court decided in favor of apothecaries.

[History of a wholesaler: CERP-Rouen]. / Histoire d'un grossiste-repartiteur: la CERP-Rouen.

MCPR (Mutuelle cooperative pharmaceutique rouennaise) was created in November 1919 and furnished specialities to pharmacists in Haute-Normandie. It moved to various places and finally was situated in 1939 rue des Augustins, where its central office is still nowadays. During World-War II, many difficulties occurred: fire in 1940, bombing in 1944, great lack of possibilities. After peace, it took benefit of the great increase of its market. It worked for the grouping of wholesalers companies and became in 1965 CERP-Rouen. It strenghtened its internal growth by creating new sites and introducing new techniques: teletransmission computer networks, officinal PC. Since 1969 to 1986, nine wholesalers were partially or totally incorporated in the group and CERP got to a national position: 34 agencies, 6,000 members, 1010 FF. Since 1986, it reached the European level (Belgium, Spain, Poland) and overseas departments (Martinique-Guyane).