Medical research for hire
Subtitle: the political economy of pharmaceutical clinical trials
By: Jill A. Fisher.
Series: Critical issues in health and medicine
Publisher: Rutgers University Press
Published: 2009
Place of publication: New Brunswick, N.J
Language: eng
Number of pages: 257
ISBN-13: 9780813544090; 9780813544106
Subjects: Drugs -- Testing -- Economic aspects -- United States; Clinical trials -- Economic aspects -- United States; Drugs -- Testing -- Moral and ethical aspects -- United States; Clinical trials -- Moral and ethical aspects -- United States; Contracting out -- United States; Drug Industry -- ethics; Clinical Trials as Topic -- ethics; Research Subjects
Description: Today, more than 75 percent of pharmaceutical drug trials in the United States are being conducted in the private sector. Once the sole province of academic researchers, these important studies are now being outsourced to non-academic physicians. According to Jill A. Fisher, this major change in the way medical research is performed is the outcome of two problems in U.S. health care: decreasing revenue for physicians and decreasing access to treatment for patients. As physicians report diminishing income due to restrictive relationships with insurers, increasing malpractice insurance premiums, and inflated overhead costs to operate private practices, they are attracted to pharmaceutical contract research for its lucrative return. Clinical trials also provide limited medical access to individuals who have no or inadequate health insurance because they offer "free" doctors' visits, diagnostic tests, and medications to participants. Focusing on the professional roles of those involved, as well as key research practices, Fisher assesses the risks and advantages for physicians and patients alike when pharmaceutical drug studies are used as an alternative to standard medical care.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references and index.
Table of contents: title: Clinical trials: coming soon to a physician near you; title: Governing human subjects research; title: Pursuing contract research; title: Coordinating clinical trials; title: Monitoring the clinical trials industry; title: Recruiting human subjects; title: Mobilizing informed consent; title: Cultivating pharmaceutical compliance; title: Changing markets in pharmaceutical research.