[Social pharmacology: a new topic in clinical pharmacology]

Social Pharmacology, a new field in Clinical Pharmacology, describes the relationships between Society and Drugs. Topics of Social Pharmacology are first, the social consequences of populations' exposure to drugs and, secondly, the social factors explaining drug use behind clinical or rational explanations. Social Pharmacology also investigates the reasons for prescription, delivery, consumption and self-medication of drugs (behind clinical or rational factors). The paper discusses the role of the different players of Social Pharmacology in the field of drug development, evaluation, prescription and consumption. For example, the pharmaceutical industry should play an important role in the discovery of new medically and socially "desirable" drugs. Drug companies are also involved in this field for drug information to doctors but also patients. Regulatory agencies are concerned by social factors involved in drug approval, regulation of the maximal level of drug use, application and transferability of clinical trials to daily clinical practice. Social Pharmacologists also investigate the factors (others than clinical or rational) regulating drug use. Drug consumption varies according to social characteristics of physicians (sub-speciality, medical education, cultural origin, etc) or patients (gender, age, education, country, kind of work, social status etc). Relationships between drugs and religion make up a large chapter of Social Pharmacology. Other topics in Social Pharmacology involving other health professionals (pharmacists), lawyers and the media are also discussed. Finally, drugs should be considered as important social markers of population behaviour. The role of the Social Pharmacologist is to identify these social and irrational factors governing drug use in order to adapt and rationalize drug utilization in daily clinical practice.