Florida State's Abbott publishes new book on access to medicines

Press Date
September 1, 2009

TALLAHASSEE—Florida State College of Law Edward Ball Eminent Scholar  Frederick M. Abbott has published a new book on global pharmaceutical policy. 

Global Pharmaceutical Policy: Ensuring Medicines for Tomorrow’s World (Edward Elgar Publishing 2009), coauthored with the University of Oslo, Norway’s Graham Dukes, examines the global system for the development, production, distribution  and use of medicines. The book considers the pressure being placed on health care  budgets by the global economic crisis and policies to ensure access to medicines. 

Joe Collier of St. George’s University of London calls the book a “masterpiece” that “describes the laws, policies and customs relating to the development and provision  of medicines, identifies their strengths and weaknesses, and then proposes global  solutions for getting things better.”  

“Some of the greatest challenges to healthcare around the world involve deciding  how best to develop vitally needed new medicines, and how best to make them safely and  effectively available to patients at affordable prices,” says Abbott. “These are core  questions in the healthcare debate now taking place in the United States and represent life  and death issues throughout much of the developing world. In this book we address these  questions holistically, looking at all parts of the medicines system.”  

Abbott is highly regarded for his scholarship and professional activities in  international intellectual property and global economic issues. He serves as Rapporteur for the Committee on International Trade Law of the International Law Association and  is a consultant to the World Health Organization and the World Bank. 

Abbott’s book is one of four recently published by the Florida State Law faculty. In addition to being productive scholars, Florida State Law faculty members are active  speakers and experts for professional groups around the nation, testifying both before the  Florida Legislature and the United States Congress.