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This book develops a theoretical framework for examining and assessing the regulatory arrangements for medical products. Since the first half of the 20th century, the regulation of pharmaceuticals, medical devices and, more recently, biologicals have been controlled in many jurisdictions by specific regulatory regimes and agencies. Their regulatory mandates are similar – to ensure the quality, safety and efficacy of medical products. This book provides a timely and relevant assessment of the complexities of medical regulatory regimes, by drawing on a particular theory of political legitimacy. In this respect, the book adopts a ‘dialogic’ approach – according to which a shared set of ...
A new model for the relationship between science and democracy that spans policymaking, the funding and conduct of research, and our approach to new technologies Our ability to act on some of the most pressing issues of our time, from pandemics and climate change to artificial intelligence and nuclear weapons, depends on knowledge provided by scientists and other experts. Meanwhile, contemporary political life is increasingly characterized by problematic responses to expertise, with denials of science on the one hand and complaints about the ignorance of the citizenry on the other. Politics and Expertise offers a new model for the relationship between science and democracy, rooted in the way...
This volume contributes to the return to nature movement that is very much in vogue in contemporary European societies, by examining the place of food and eating in the "rewilding" process. It is divided into three parts, each of which consists of conversations between social scientists, with fieldwork collected from across Denmark, Finland, France, Italy, Norway and Switzerland. The first part focuses on the ways in which the hunter-gatherer livelihood has been transformed into a resilient, simpler and ecological way of life. It is dedicated to hunting and identifies the contexts in which large wild game meat is consumed and the reasons why such a product is still valued today. The second p...
Ranging from influence over world trade laws affecting health to population health issues such as obesity to the use of comparative data to affect policy, the EU’s public health policies are increasingly important, visible, expensive and effective. They also provide an invaluable case study for those who want to understand the growth and impact of the EU as well as how states can affect their populations’ lives and health. European Union Public Health Policy capitalizes on extensive new research, providing an introduction to the topic and indicating new intellectual directions surrounding the topic. An introductory section and extended conclusion explore the meaning of public health, the...
Oral health is integral to wellbeing and quality of life. This important edited volume brings together leading scholars to address global oral health and the multiple ways in which theory, practice and discourse have shaped it in the modern period. Structured around key themes, the book chapters draw on interdisciplinary perspectives in order to consider the role of the dental profession, the commercial sector, charities, the state, the media and patients in shaping oral health in the past and present. Collectively, the chapters consider the extent to which each of the studied groups and actors have sought to own and control the mouth. By adopting multiple perspectives, the book highlights the importance of cross-disciplinary work across the sciences, social sciences and humanities and provides a road map for a new interdisciplinary field focused on oral health and society. Drawing on perspectives from dentistry, sociology, history and the wider humanities, this book will interest students and researchers of dentistry, public health, sociology of health and illness, the medical humanities and history.
How the US Environmental Protection Agency designed the governance of risk and forged its legitimacy over the course of four decades. The US Environmental Protection Agency was established in 1970 to protect the public health and environment, administering and enforcing a range of statutes and programs. Over four decades, the EPA has been a risk bureaucracy, formalizing many of the methods of the scientific governance of risk, from quantitative risk assessment to risk ranking. Demortain traces the creation of these methods for the governance of risk, the controversies to which they responded, and the controversies that they aroused in turn. He discusses the professional networks in which the...
Risks are increasingly regulated by international standards, and scientists play a key role in standardisation. This fascinating book exposes the action of 'invisible colleges' of scientists - loose groups of prominent scientific experts who combine practical experience of risk and control with advisory responsibility - in the formulation of international standards. Drawing upon the domains of medicines, 'novel foods' and food hygiene, David Demortain investigates new regulatory concepts emerging from invisible colleges, highlighting how they shape consensus and pave the way for international.
Testing for genetic diseases or traits is a rapidly developing practice, the most widely used form of testing currently in use being newborn screening. Based on a five-year research project and winner of the Prix ’Le Monde’ for academic research in France, The Birth of a Genetics Policy analyses the three dimensions - scientific, political and moral - of the social issues raised by a policy of screening for the genetic disease of cystic fibrosis amongst babies. Drawing on extensive interview material and observational research, it explores the conditions under which a screening policy is decided upon and implemented, the types of political logic underlying it, and the effects it has on n...
Over the last century, the industrialization of agriculture and processing technologies have made food abundant and relatively inexpensive for much of the world’s population. Simultaneously, pesticides, nitrates, and other technological innovations intended to improve the food supply’s productivity and safety have generated new, often poorly understood risks for consumers and the environment. From the proliferation of synthetic additives to the threat posed by antibiotic-resistant bacteria, the chapters in Risk on the Table zero in on key historical cases in North America and Europe that illuminate the history of food safety, highlighting the powerful tensions that exists among scientific understandings of risk, policymakers’ decisions, and cultural notions of “pure” food.
Several studies have argued that there is a correlation between short stature and negative experiences and characteristics, such as social discrimination, economic disadvantage, health problems (especially for men). The idea that short men have a disadvantage in social interactions and in partner choices is also widespread in popular culture and common knowledge. It is now possible to use recombinant human growth hormone (hGH) to treat children with idiopathic short stature (ISS), namely children who are shorter than average for unknown medical reasons. Critics argue that there is a lack of evidence of both psychological distress caused by short stature and the efficacy of the treatment in i...