Overdose: How Excessive Government Regulation Stifles Pharmaceutical Innovation - Hardcover

Epstein, Richard A.

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0300116640 ISBN 13: 9780300116649

Publisher: Yale University Press, 2006

Synopsis

This book is the first to offer a comprehensive examination of the pharmaceutical industry by following the tortuous course of a new drug as it progresses from early development to final delivery. Richard A. Epstein looks closely at the regulatory framework that surrounds all aspects of making pharmaceutical products today, and he assesses which current legal and regulatory practices make sense and which have gone awry. 
While critics of pharmaceutical companies call for ever more stringent controls on virtually every aspect of drug development and approval, Epstein cautions that the effect of such an approach will be to stifle pharmaceutical innovation and slow the delivery of beneficial treatments to the patients who need them. The author considers an array of challenges that confront the industry--conflicts of interest among government, academe, and the drug companies; intellectual property rights that govern patents; FDA regulation; pricing disputes; marketing practices; and liability issues, including those brought to light in the recent VIOXX case. Epstein argues that to ensure the continuing creativity, efficiency, and success of the pharmaceutical industry, the best system will feature strong property rights and clearly enforceable contracts, with minimal regulatory and judicial interference.

About this title

About the Author:

Richard A. Epstein is James Parker Hall Distinguished Service Professor of Law, University of Chicago, and Peter and Kirstin Bedford Senior Fellow at the Hoover Institution.

Review:

“In recent years, the pharmaceutical industry has come under often one-sided criticism from observers such as Marcia Angell. This book, while sure to be controversial, is in large part a healthy corrective to these works.”—Josh Lerner, author of Innovation and Its Discontents
(Josh Lerner)

About this edition

• Publisher: Yale University Press
• Publication date: 2006
• ISBN 10: 0300116640
• ISBN 13: 9780300116649
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 296