[e-drug] Books on Pills (5)

[JBRusso@aol.com]

E-DRUG: Books on Pills (5)
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Dear Colleagues:
 
It's important not to lose the historical record on the often-sorry story  of 
the history of pills, and I commend everyone who's contributing their  
favorites.  Here are some of mine:

The most politically effective revelations about drug practices since  1938 
came from four years of U.S. Senate hearings starting in 1959 under Senator  
Estes Kefauver, climaxing with the thalidomide scandal.   The upshot  was 
passage of the 1962 food, drug and cosmetic amendments strengthening U.S.  drug 
safety standards, requiring pre-approval proof of efficacy and giving FDA  
increased authority over drug promotion.  Richard Harris, a New Yorker  staff writer, 
penned a dramatic account of the investigation and the legislative  battle to 
enact the legislation in "The Real Voice" (MacMillan,  1964). Forty-odd years 
later, it's still a great read.
 
Dr. Milton Silverman and his colleagues Mia Lydecker (his wife) and Philip  
R. Lee, MD (Chancellor of the University of California San Francisco)  authored 
many important contributions to the politics of drugs literature. Two  
important examples are "Bad Medicine -- The Prescription Drug Industry in the  Third 
World" (Stanford University Press, 1992) and "The Drugging of the  Americas, 
How Multinational drug Companies Say One Thing About Their Products to  
Physicians in the U.S. and Another Thing to Physicians in Latin America."  
(University of California Press, 1976).
 
Whatever progress that's made tomorrow will be built on these people's  
achievements.
 
Cordially,
 
Jim
 
James B.  Russo
146 Koenig Rd.
Bernville, PA 19506 
610 488 9060
610 488 7036  (fax)
484 269 6470  (cell)
jbrusso@aol.com