english.prescrire.org > Spotlight > Archives : 2013 > The 2013 "Prescrire Prize" is awarded in Paris to 3 noteworthy books about health and healthcare

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  The 2013 "Prescrire Prize" is awarded in Paris to    3 noteworthy books about health and healthcare

The recipients of the 2013 "Prescrire Prize" book awards were announced on 3 October 2013. The prize is awarded to works of particular interest to the general public and/or healthcare professionals. 


Amongst the works and documents reviewed in our French edition from October 2012 to September 2013, the Prescrire Editorial Staff has awarded the 2013 Prescrire Prize to the three works below.

 

Merchants of DoubtMerchants of doubt

N. Oreskes and E.M. Conway
Bloomsbury,  New York 2010: 345 pages, 27 US dollars.
Prize awarded to French edition "Les marchands de doute"
Le Pommier, Paris 2012: 523 pages, 29 euros.
Manufacturing phony science in order to "sell doubt": such is the strategy employed by industry in order to slow down awareness and regulatory measures aimed at regulating or banning their products. Tobacco, pesticides, climate change: as many examples that this work of history of science unravels, and substantiates with documentary evidence.
> Read Prescrire's review (in French)
 

Self-medication or the mirages of autonomy

L'automédication ou les mirages de l'autonomie
Fainzang S
"L'automédication ou les mirages de l'autonomie"
PUF, Paris 2012 : 182 pages,  20 euros.
Taking medication without consulting a doctor: is that displaying autonomy? Or is it responding to other appeals, including those from governmental authorities concerned with limiting healthcare expenditures? By examining the mechanisms and the claims that are at work when it comes to self-medication, this work of anthropology gives a better understanding of this practice.
> Read Prescrire's review (in French)


The author of this work participated in the debate organised by Prescrire on 3 October 2013 entitled "Self-medication: how much autonomy for patients? What is the role of healthcare professionals?"

 Understanding and Responding to Pharmaceutical Promotion. A Practical Guide

Understanding and Responding to Pharmaceutical PromotionMintzes B et al.
World Health Organization, Geneva and Health Action International, Amsterdam: 180 pages, free.
Available for download at www.haiweb.org
Prize awarded to the French edition,
"Comprendre la promotion pharmaceutique et y répondre. Un manuel pratique"
A precious resource for understanding the promotional influence of pharmaceutical companies. Backed up with solid references, most notably from the work of independent teams, this work provides an overview of the principal methods utilised and offers pragmatic solutions to help health professionals and students to deal with them.
> Read Prescrire's review (in French)

"Prix Prescrire 2013" Rev Prescrire 2013; 33 (360): outside back  cover. (pdf in French, free)

©Prescrire 3 octobre 2013
Download the original review
Pdf (in French, free)

Rules governing the
Prescrire Prize
Pdf, free