E-DRUG: Politics of Drug Regulation Internationally and in Ireland
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Health, Democracy and the Globalised Pharmaceutical Industry:
Exploring the Politics of Drug Regulation Internationally and in Ireland
University College Cork, Ireland
16 � 17 September 2004
This conference aims to consider the implications of the mounting economic, political and cultural influence of the globalised pharmaceutical industry for health and democracy.
Key questions that will be addressed include:
What are the implications of capitalist globalisation for the power of the globalised pharmaceutical industry?
What are the implications for health of the rise internationally of pharmacocentric healthcare, as both the prevention and cure of illness are seen more and more to lie in drug therapy?
What are the consequences of the rise of pharmacocentric healthcare for health inequalities nationally and globally?
Does the globalised pharmaceutical industry have growing influence in policy-making at national and supra-national levels, and if so, how and what are the implications of this for health and democracy?
What are the implications of the construction of drug regulation as a purely technical process, based on �scientific� evidence and in which the globalised pharmaceutical industry is seen to play a benign role?
What are the ramifications of the pressure from the globalised pharmaceutical industry for greater �deregulation� of its activities?
In drug policy decision-making, how are health and commercial objectives balanced?
How can the drug policy-making domain be democratised and made more transparent?
How can greater participation of patient and consumer movements, as well as the wider public, in drug regulation policy be promoted?
How can sociological analyses contribute to the answering of the above questions?
The first day of the conference will explore these questions within the international context, while the second day will consider them specifically in relation to Ireland.
Little discussion of these issues has taken place in Ireland, in spite of the intense dependency of the Irish economy on the globalised pharmaceutical industry. Further aims of the conference are, therefore, (1) to bring together Irish people with an interest in drug policy to nurture greater public debate about the influence of the globalised pharmaceutical industry, and (2) to explore ways in which a greater understanding of the specificities of the influence of the industry in Ireland can be developed.
For further information, contact the conference organisers at:
Kathy Glavanis-Grantham,
Department of Sociology, University College Cork,
Tel: 00353 21 4902921
Fax: 00353 21 4272004
Email: k.glavanis@ucc.ie
Orla O�Donovan,
Department of Applied Social Studies, University College Cork,
Tel: 00353 21 4903068
Fax: 00353 21 4903443
Email: o.odonovan@ucc.ie
The conference registration fee, which covers attendance at the conference, dinner on the evening of the first day, and lunch and teas/coffees on both days, is Euro100 (concession for unwaged).
The conference fee will be paid in full at registration.
Download the full programme and application form:
www.activelink.ie/ce/downl/pharm-industry-conf.doc
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Programme:
Thursday, 16 September
The Politics of Drug Regulation Internationally
8.30 Conference registration
9.15 � 11.00
Understanding Drug Regulation and the Power of the Globalised Pharmaceutical Industry � Critical Sociological Perspectives
Orla O�Donovan, University College Cork
Introduction and opening comments
Denis O�Hearn, Queen�s University Belfast
Globalisation and transnational corporate interests: Implications for the pharmaceutical industry and localities
John Abraham, University of Sussex
Sociology of bias and science in knowledge production: Implications for the politics of drug regulation
11.30 � 1.00
The State, Democracy and Drug Regulation
Joel Lexchin, York University, Toronto
The state, neo-liberalism and drug regulation � reflections from Canada
Charles Medawar, Social Audit and Andrew Herxheimer, UK Cochrane Centre
What does the controversy over Seroxat tell us about the politics of drug regulation in Britain?
2.30 � 4.30
The Globalised Pharmaceutical Industry:
An Obstacle to Global Democracy?
Ellen 't Hoen, Medecines sans Frontieres
Trade rules and access to medicines: What to watch out for in bilateral and regional trade agreements
Ger Downes, University of Limerick
The pharmaceutical industry and the World Trade Organisation's TRIPs Agreement: The role of intellectual property in global public health policy and its implications for global governance
Christiane Fischer, BUKO Pharma-Kampagne
NGO and civil society struggles to democratise supranational agencies that shape drug regulation policy
Friday, 17 September
The Politics of Drug Regulation in Ireland
9.00 � 11.00
The Pharmaceutical Industry and Drug Consumption in Ireland
Kathy Glavanis-Grantham, University College Cork
The globalised pharmaceutical industry in Ireland and the Cork Region: A political economy perspective
Michael Barry, National Centre of Pharmacoeconomics
Drug expenditure and consumption in Ireland � Explaining recent trends
Terry Lynch, General Practitioner
The dominance of drug-based approaches to mental health in Ireland � A critical commentary
11.30 � 1.00
The Globalised Pharmaceutical Industry,
the State and the Medical Profession in Ireland
Orla O�Donovan, University College Cork
A pathological partnership? The Irish state and the globalised pharmaceutical industry
Colin Bradley, University College Cork
The relationship between the medical profession and the globalised pharmaceutical industry in Ireland: Some personal observations
2.30 � 4.30
Democratising Drug Regulation in Ireland-
The Place of Patient Organisations and Lay Expertise
Josephine Mahony, Paula Kealy and Detta Warnock, Positive Action
The power of bloody women � A history of Positive Action
Sheila O�Connor, Patient Focus
Patient Focus � Breaking the silence about medical abuse in Ireland
Kathy Glavanis-Grantham, University College Cork
Concluding comments
Speakers
John Abraham is professor of sociology and co-director of the Centre for Research in Health and Medicine, in the University of Sussex. His books include Science, Politics and the Pharmaceutical Industry (1995); The Therapeutic Nightmare: The battle over the world's most controversial sleeping pill (1999); Regulating Medicines in Europe (2000); and Regulation of the Pharmaceutical Industry (2003).
Michael Barry is the Director of the National Centre for Pharmacoeconomics, St. James�s Hospital Dublin.
Colin Bradley is professor of general practice at University College Cork. He has a long-standing research interest in the prescribing of general practitioners. His MD was based on a qualitative study of the decision making of GPs with regard to prescribing. He has also conducted research on the introduction of new drugs into general and specialist practice and on the communication between doctors and their patients about medicines. He is a member of a large European research group investigating the users� perspectives on psychotropic medicines.
Ger Downes is a Government of Ireland postgraduate scholar at the University of Limerick where he is researching a PhD on the WTO's TRIPs Agreement and its implications for global governance.
Christiane Fischer works for BUKO Pharma-Kampagne, a campaign group committed to Rational Drug Therapy and involved in monitoring German pharmaceutical industry. BUKO was founded in 1977 by independent Third World solidarity groups to improve communication on the grassroots level and to strengthen the political influence of the movement. The aim of BUKO is to expose structural injustice between North and South and to press for changes towards a fair new economic and political world order. BUKO has about 200 member groups. She is a member of Health Action International (Europe).
Kathy Glavanis-Grantham lectures in the Department of Sociology, University College Cork, and teaches in the areas of development, gender and health. Together with Orla O�Donovan, she recently embarked on a major study of patient organisations in Ireland and the extent to which they challenge capitalist biomedical discourses and practices. She is a member of Health Action International (Europe).
Andrew Herxheimer is a clinical pharmacologist who taught at London University, founded and edited Drug & Therapeutics Bulletin for many years, and now works in the Cochrane Collaboration and on DIPEx, a database of patients' experiences of illness (www.dipex.org). He is a member of Health Action International (Europe).
Paula Kealy is a founding member of Positive Action and is currently a member of its Executive Committee. Positive Action was formed by women who received Anti-D immunoglobulin which was infected with Hepatitis C. This is widely regarded as the biggest public health scandal in the history of the Irish state. Positive Action provides support, information and advice for infected women and their families.
Joel Lexchin received his MD from the University of Toronto in 1977. He currently teaches health policy at York University in Toronto and works as an emergency department physician. He has been talking about pharmaceutical policy issues for over 20 years and has authored or coauthored over 50 peer-reviewed publications on all aspects of this topic. He is a member of Health Action International (Europe).
Terry Lynch is a general practitioner and psychotherapist based in Limerick and is the author of the best-selling Beyond Prozac: Healing Mental Suffering Without Drugs. In 2003, he was appointed to the Expert Group on Mental Health Policy that was established by the Irish government.
Josephine Mahony is a founding member and the current Chairperson of Positive Action.
Charles Medawar is executive director of Social Audit, and a critical commentator on medicines policy, drug safety and corporate, governmental and professional accountability. Together with Anita Hardon, he recently published the book Medicines Out of Control? Antidepressants and the Conspiracy of Goodwill. He is the current chairperson of the association board of Health Action International (Europe).
Sheila O�Connor is one of the founding members of Patient Focus, a national patient advocacy group in Ireland. Personal experience as well as degrees in Sociology and Law from University College Dublin formed this interest.
Orla O�Donovan works in the Department of Applied Social Studies in University College Cork, where her research and teaching are centrally concerned with democracy and the politics of healthcare. Together with Kathy Glavanis-Grantham, she recently embarked on a major study of patient organisations in Ireland and the extent to which they challenge capitalist biomedical discourses and practices. She is a member of Health Action International (Europe).
Denis O'Hearn is professor of sociology at Queens University Belfast and for many years was Chair of the West Belfast Economic Forum. His recent book, The Atlantic Economy: Britain, the US and Ireland, won the American Sociological Association's PEWS outstanding book award in 2002.
Ellen 't Hoen works on the Access to Essential Medicines Campaign of Medecines sans Frontieres. She has been involved in extensive research and advocacy on patent barriers to access to medicines. She is a lawyer and drug poicy expert.
Detta Warnock is a member of the Executive Committee of Postive Action.
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