AIHP is pleased to announce the publication of Pharmacy in History volume 62, number 1 & 2 (2020)! This issue marks the beginning of the second volume edited by AIHP Historical Director and Pharmacy in History Editor in Chief Lucas Richert.
The lead article by Dr. Jacalyn Duffin, “The Yew Tree and the Crab: A Case Study of Big Pharma, Small Pharma, and an Anti-Cancer Drug,” explores the travails of a small Canadian pharmaceutical manufacturer, which battled a large multi-national drug company for the right to produce an anti-cancer drug. Dr. Patricia Barton’s article, “‘Who Takes the Blame?’: Retail Chemists, Doctors, and the Control of “Dangerous Drugs” in Inter-War Britain,” discusses how the regulatory regime for “dangerous” narcotic drugs in early-twentieth-century Britain could criminalize the work of pharmacists.
The issue also features two essays commenting on the recent Future Issue of Pharmacy in History. In their reflections about articles in the future issue, Dr. Elizabeth Siegel Watkins and Dr. Axel Helmstädter offered their perspectives about the future of the field of the history of pharmacy and pharmaceuticals.
We are excited to introduce the new “Conversations” section, which highlights interviews with scholars conducting research into the history of pharmacy and pharmaceuticals. The inaugural “Conversations” department features a wide-ranging and interesting interview of Dr. Nancy Campbell by Dr. Rafaela Zorzanelli.
This issue includes Pharmacy in History‘s longest-ever reviews section with reviews of 15 different books, documentaries, and scholarly databases. Greg Higby’s always provocative “Visual Pharmacy” article, “Pe-Ru-Na for Spanish Influenza,” rounds out the issue with a brief essay about the long history of the persistence of unproven or quack therapies during pandemics.
AIHP members with access to the Pharmacy in History JSTOR archive can read the issue immediately.
Pharmacy in History seeks articles on all aspects of the history of pharmacy, broadly defined. Please see the submission guidelines for Pharmacy in History.
Access the Pharmacy in History JSTOR Archive
All past issues of Pharmacy in History have been digitized and are text-searchable at JSTOR.
Note: Academic libraries seeking subscriptions to History of Pharmacy and Pharmaceuticals should directly contact the University of Wisconsin Press.
Read MoreUpcoming events hosted by AIHP
June 11, 2025, 12:00 pm (Central): Influence and Cooperation: How British and US Pharmacopoeias shaped each other, 1720-1990
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Upcoming events of interest to pharmacists and historians of pharmacy, pharmaceuticals, medicines, science, and related fields.
June 7-11, 2025: ASHP Pharmacy Futures Meeting, Charlotte, NC.
July 19-22, 2025: American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy Annual Meeting, Chicago, IL.
December 7-11, 2025: ASHP Midyear, Las Vegas, NV.