Medical Science and Medical Industry: The Formation of the American Pharmaceutical Industry (Studies in Business History)

Preface customers, or cynically manipulates the prices of products which are relied upon for health or nutrition. This is the sort of behaviour of large and powerful industries, especially those which operate internationally and wield professional, economic and political power. We should not be shocked by this, or be so naive as to believe that it differs in kind from other industries. The significant difference, however, is that this industry associates itself with the high standards of the healing arts. It was industry image-makers who chose, long ago, to let people think it was especially ethical. They claimed to have standards and a moralistic stance higher than other industries. Similarly, they chose to market their products as part of the pure calling of high science. This they did partly because their competitors did, partly because they came to believe their own rhetoric, and partly because they found that it works well in advertising. This book grew out of a longstanding interest in the character of science, technology and medicine in commerce. Focusing on the pharmaceutical industry proved the best way to combine these interests and brought me in touch with a large variety of other themes relating to the character of technical change, the growth of big business, and the relationship between therapeutic products and medical practice. With such a diversity of topics the importance of centring this study on the industry became vital for the sake of maintaining continuity and order. Besides, the industry is of great importance in its own right and has been used as an exemplar of many things in the business world. Readers of this book will bring to it their own prejudices. Whatever their premise, however, I believe that a detailed history of a variety of aspects of the industry will do something to add to the understanding of an industry which enters the lives of most of us in a uniquely powerful way. No history of an industry can be written without depending on the sources held in company archives. I am indebted to the many people who made it possible for me to work in private collections. These and other archives are listed at the end of this book, and each entry implies further debts to archivists, company historians, public relations officers, support staff and people who helped me to arrange research visits. Libraries and librarians on both sides of the Atlantic were also necessary for this work. The initial research was done at the Library of the College of Physicians of Philadelphia and the National Library of Medicine, but other special collections, including the Wellcome Institute for the History of Medicine and the Royal College of Surgeons were important to me, as well as general libraries, especially the Library of Congress and the British Library. This book began as a doctoral dissertation at the University of Pennsylvania and I acknowledge the valuable help of many teachers as well as fellow students. Charles E. Rosenberg, Rosemary Stevens, Thomas P. Hughes and Russell C. Maulitz especially deserve my sincere gratitude. Financial aid came in part from the Smithsonian Institution, where I was twice a fellow, and from the Pharmaceutical Manufacturers' Association, whose grant was generously given with no strings attached. Further support came from the Leverhulme Trust through the Business History Unit of London University. My former colleagues at the London School of Economics gave me tremendous encouragement and guidance. Front Matter....Pages i-ix Introduction: Medicine and Technology....Pages 1-10 The Development of the Pharmaceutical Industry, 1818–90....Pages 11-29 Company Structure and Scientific Medicine, 1890–95....Pages 30-47 Public Health and Diphtheria Antitoxin, 1895–1900....Pages 48-56 Selling Science: The H. K. Mulford Company....Pages 57-78 Science-based Industry: Scientific Disputes and Government Regulation....Pages 79-97 The Uses of Science....Pages 98-108 Scientific Commercialism: Salvarsan and the Dermatological Research Laboratories....Pages 109-124 Modern Medical Manufacturing, 1918–29....Pages 125-134 Back Matter....Pages 135-207