Indústria farmacêutica durante os anos (nem tão) dourados: euforia e desencanto (1950-1960)

Abstract

The following paper analyzes of the history of the pharmaceutical industry through aspects of the development of science, in the scope of the production of medicines, during the 1950s and 1960s. It also discusses the absence of control of the productive processes, commercialization and even of the side effects of certain drugs in circulation in the referred context. It delves into the golden years of the pharmaceutical industry in Europe, the United States and Brazil. The concept of risk society, used in the following paper and defined by Ulrich Beck, talks about a society with such high degree of improvement in technical and industrial development that it collapsed on the consequences of its scientific progress. In such a way, this context brings with it, problems that can be overcome by the premeditated beneficial effects. The result of this analysis shows that the context of the golden years was conducive to the lack of control and regulation, which generated potential side effects. Later, in some cases, studies on the influence of risks and research guided by bioethics emerged.