The Pharmaceutical Studies Reader is an engaging survey of the field that brings together provocative, multi-disciplinary scholarship examining the interplay of medical science, clinical practice, consumerism, and the healthcare marketplace. * Draws on anthropological, historical, and sociological approaches to explore the social life of pharmaceuticals with special emphasis on their production, circulation, and consumption * Covers topics such as the role of drugs in shaping taxonomies of disease, the evolution of prescribing habits, ethical dimensions of pharmaceuticals, clinical trials, and drug research and marketing in the age of globalization * Offers a compelling, contextually-rich treatment of the topic that exposes readers to a variety of approaches, ideas, and frameworks * Provides an accessible introduction for readers with no previous background in this area