Pharmaceutical Consumption: Prescribing the Conditions to the Branding of 'Life'.

摘要

This thesis explores the various roles at play in the production of the pharmaceutical market in Canada. This thesis investigates the intersection between Canadian health policy and intellectual property through an examination of recent case law, which depict normative understandings of the way in which Canadian bodies govern and are governed by the consumption of prescription medications. The work of John Gagnon and Erving Goffman inspired the theatrical landscape from which this examination unfolds. Additionally, Alan Hunt, Gary Wickham, Francois Ewald, Ben Golder and Peter Fitzpatrick's interpretation of Foucault's work on governmentality, bio-power and bio-politics form the theoretical backdrop for this project.;Through a critical analysis of the intersection of health policy and intellectual property, examined through the concept of the performative stage, we are able to unpack and examine the various roles and relationships present in the consumption of pharmaceuticals. This examination offers a critical lens into the growing pharmaceutical market in Canada, including governmental efforts in an ongoing attempt to control the "push to prescribe.".