File(s) not publicly available
International Comparative Analysis and Explanation in Medical Sociology: Demystifying the Halcion Anomaly
journal contribution
posted on 2023-06-07, 19:52 authored by John Abraham, Julie SheppardThe US drug regulatory authority, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is often thought to demand higher standards of consumer protection from drug manufacturers than its British counterparts, the Medicines Control Agency (MCA) and the Committee on the Safety of Medicines (CSM). Yet since 1991 the MCA has banned one of the most prescribed tranquillisers, Halcion, while it remains approved by the FDA and on the market in the United States. This article attempts to explain the Halcion anomaly and questions explanations proposed by previous sociological research in the field. Broad societal influences, such as the role of the mass media, the increasing threat of litigation regarding drug injury and deregulatory politics are considered to be unlikely explanations. Rather, microsociological processes concerning the internal organisation of the drug regulatory authorities and the interaction between that organisation and technical analyses of safety data are found to be the key explanatory factors.
History
Publication status
- Published
Journal
SociologyISSN
0038-0385External DOI
Issue
1Volume
32Page range
141-162Pages
22.0Department affiliated with
- Sociology and Criminology Publications
Full text available
- No
Peer reviewed?
- Yes
Legacy Posted Date
2012-02-06Usage metrics
Categories
No categories selectedKeywords
Licence
Exports
RefWorks
BibTeX
Ref. manager
Endnote
DataCite
NLM
DC