Power, Politics and Pharmaceuticals: Drug Regulation in Ireland in the Global Context

Public concerns about the regulation of the pharmaceutical industry have intensified in recent years. Paradoxically, these concerns center on the over-consumption of medicines of dubious benefit in Western societies and lack of access to essential medicines in the Global South.

By demonstrating how the analysis of pharmaceutical drug regulation can provide rich insights into the operation of power and politics in contemporary society, the contributors challenge the prevailing construction of drug regulation as a sphere of "policy without politics" and suggest alternative ways of regulating medicines.