Between 1818 and 1822, more than a half dozen enduring fine chemical manufacturers were founded in the Philadelphia area. This was the beginning of the modern pharmaceutical industry as we know it. This movement showed the shift from the manufacturing of medicines in the laboratories of pharmacies to the construction of manufacturing plants for this purpose. During this time, doctors and pharmacists compounded and administered medicines to patients and drug reactions were observed. Robert Shoemaker is thought to be the first large-scale manufacturer in Philadelphia during the period between 1818 and 1840, with the production of glycerin.
As the industry evolved, it became more important to regulate the production of pharmaceuticals. In 1902, Congress passed an act to control the production and sale of biologicals, and to regulate the sale of viruses, toxins, serums, and analogous products. Four years later, in 1906, the Pure Food and Drugs Act was passed to standardize the state regulations. The purpose of the Food and Drugs Act was to provide the Department of Agriculture with the legal power to enforce reasonable standards of purity for processed foods.
The Food and Drug Act was also important in that it added the scientific mission of the Division of Chemistry, which eventually evolved into the Food and Drug Administration http://www.fda.gov/ (FDA). FDA is a scientific, regulatory, and public health agency that oversees most food products, human and animal drugs, therapeutic agents of biological origin, medical devices, radiation-emitting products for consumer, medical, and occupational use, cosmetics, and animal feed.
As the industry evolved, it became more important to regulate the production of pharmaceuticals. In 1902, Congress passed an act to control the production and sale of biologicals, and to regulate the sale of viruses, toxins, serums, and analogous products. Four years later, in 1906, the Pure Food and Drugs Act was passed to standardize the state regulations. The purpose of the Food and Drugs Act was to provide the Department of Agriculture with the legal power to enforce reasonable standards of purity for processed foods.
The Food and Drug Act was also important in that it added the scientific mission of the Division of Chemistry, which eventually evolved into the Food and Drug Administration http://www.fda.gov/ (FDA). FDA is a scientific, regulatory, and public health agency that oversees most food products, human and animal drugs, therapeutic agents of biological origin, medical devices, radiation-emitting products for consumer, medical, and occupational use, cosmetics, and animal feed.
The Pharmaceutical industry has a great impact on the medical field and tends to over use its authority. This industry at times is very sneaky and manipulative. For example Marcia Angell writes in her book The Truth About Drug Companies that "drugs are the fastest-growing part of the health care bill which itself is rising at an alarming rate." Dr. Angell argues that patients are spending more on drugs simply because they are being prescribed more drugs than ever before and that "those drugs are more likely to be expensive new ones instead of older, cheaper ones, and that the prices of the most heavily prescribed drugs are routinely jacked up, sometimes several times a year."
Also pharmaceutical companies spend more money on marketing than research according to ScienceDaily,http://www.sciencedaily.com/ a "new study by two York University researchers estimates the U.S. pharmaceutical industry spends almost twice as much on promotion as it does on research and development." Despite pharmaceutical companies' claims that Americans pay such high prices for prescription medications because they're really paying for research and development costs, the industry spent $33.5 billion on promotion costs in 2004. The study also "supports the position that the U.S. pharmaceutical industry is marketing-driven and challenges the perception of a research-driven, life-saving, pharmaceutical industry" that values the lives of its patients, rather than their spending habits.
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