Socio-historical analysis of the social importance of pharmacovigilance

Juan R Coca; Raquel Coca-Asensio; Gema Esteban Bueno

doi:10.3389/fsoc.2022.974090

Socio-historical analysis of the social importance of pharmacovigilance

Front Sociol. 2022 Nov 25:7:974090. doi: 10.3389/fsoc.2022.974090. eCollection 2022.

Authors

Juan R Coca¹, Raquel Coca-Asensio², Gema Esteban Bueno³

Affiliations

¹ Unit for Social Research in Health and Rare Diseases, Faculty of Education of Soria, University of Valladolid, Soria, Spain.
² Department of Neurosciences (Pharmacology), University of Cadiz, Cadiz, Spain.
³ Almeria Periphery Clinical Management Unit, Almería Health District, Andalusian Health Service, Almeria, Spain.

Abstract

Pharmacovigilance is a scientific discipline that has changed a lot in recent years and is of great social importance. The case of the so-called sulfonamide elixir showed society the importance of this discipline. Since then, pharmacovigilance has evolved into a scientific discipline with a strong social character. In this paper, a historical review is made of several paradigmatic examples of this discipline to reflect on what pharmacovigilance could be like finally. We conclude that this discipline could be more closely related to other areas of the social sciences, which would help to promote a more democratic social environment taking into account the needs of individuals and social groups.

Keywords: biosocial; pharmacovigilances; rofecoxib; sulfonamides; thalidomide.

Publication types

Review