Regulatory Violence

International case studies on regulation and science collaboration show how competition and economic pressures on the national regulators of biomedicine condition the development of jurisdictive regulations. But regulation that fails to guarantee a jurisdiction’s optimal protection of patients and scientific research in favour of other interests commits foreseeable and avoidable ‘regulatory violence’. Even when well-intended, regulation gets caught up in the intense international competition to support public health and generate national wealth, with real-world implications. Evidence from Asia, Europe and the US challenges the belief that regulation improves ethical practices in regenerative medicine, connects practitioners with good science and protects patient safety. This book explains why this is so and points to ways in which science could help us address healthcare issues in greater solidarity. This title is also available as Open Access on Cambridge Core.

Margaret Sleeboom-Faulkner is Professor of Social and Medical Anthropology at the Department of Anthropology, School of Global Studies, University of Sussex.