Listed in: History, as HIST-414
Formerly listed as: HIST-85
John W. Servos (Section 01)
Physicians often say that medicine became truly effective in the mid-twentieth century when an avalanche of new remedies became available, first in Europe and North America but soon thereafter around the world. Collectively dubbed “the wonder drugs,” these products included sulfa drugs and antibiotics for bacterial infections, cortico-steroids for arthritis and other inflammatory diseases, tranquilizers for mental illness, and diuretics for hypertension. The new medicines offered patients relief from dread diseases and physicians long-awaited validation of the power of scientific medicine. For a generation that came of age in the 1940s and 1950s, they testified to the creative and beneficent powers of science. The “wonder drugs” also gave pharmaceutical firms lucrative new products and governments complex new regulatory challenges. Many of our current debates over drug development, testing, marketing, and pricing commenced in the 1950s, as newly-introduced drugs helped reshape health care. This seminar will treat the history of these “wonder drugs”: their origins in biomedical research, their production and distribution, and some of the medical and political issues that are associated with their cost and safety. All participants in the seminar will be required to write a research paper of at least 20 pages involving the use of primary sources. Two class meetings per week.
Not open to first-year students. Limited to 20 students. Fall semester. Professor Servos.
If Overenrolled: I will give preference to history majors seeking to satisfy their seminar requirement and, thereafter, to students who have a demonstrated record of interest in medicine and the biomedical sciences.
Section 01
Tu 08:30 AM - 09:50 AM CHAP 205
Th 08:30 AM - 09:50 AM CHAP 205
This is preliminary information about books for this course. Please contact your instructor or the Academic Coordinator for the department, before attempting to purchase these books.
| ISBN | Title | Publisher | Author(s) | Comment | Book Store | Price |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Microbe Hunters | San Diego: Mariner Books, 1996 | de Kruif, Paul | Amherst Books | TBD | ||
| Miracle Cure: The Creation of Antibiotics and the Birth of Modern Medicine | New York: Viking Press, 2017 | Rosen, William | Amherst Books | TBD | ||
| The Discovery of Insulin | Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1982 | Bliss, Michael | Amherst Books | TBD | ||
| The Truth about the Drug Companies: How They Deceive Us and What to Do about It | New York: Random House, 2004 | Angell, Marcia | Amherst Books | TBD |
These books are available locally at Amherst Books.