The Medical-Industrial Complex II: Access, Industry, and the Clinical Trials Phenomenon

This chapter shows how evidence from clinical trials emerges, how those findings determine insurance reimbursement patterns and then treatment standards, and how those organize the work of doctors. It ends with a look at the specter that hangs over these engines of innovation and evidence: the fact that the pharmaceutical and biotech industries and the for-profit market for technologies have a growing impact on shaping research agendas and thus on shaping treatments.