A Brief History of

Pharmacy

Oksana Pyzik
Lecturer RDPP
o.pyzik@ucl.ac.uk
& Bryony Hudson
Pharmacy Historian
Pre-reading

• Overview of British pharmacy history:

https://www.bshp.org/aboutus/PharmceuticalHistory.asp

• History of the Royal Pharmaceutical Society:

https://www.rpharms.com/about-us/history-of-the-society

• Insight into the weird and wonderful collections of the Royal Pharmaceutical
Society Museum: https://www.rpharms.com/about-us/museum/explore-the-
collection
What is the origin of pharmacy?
How far back can we go?
What is the origin of pharmacy?
How far back can we go?
• Eternal history of medicinal plants for as long
as there have been unwell humans
• Sumerians (c.4000 BCE) had distinct
“pharmacists” and “prescriptions”
• Distinct pharmacy shops c.1900 BCE in
Sippara, now Iraq
• Global history – Ancient Egypt, China, Native
peoples in Americas, Australia
• Challenge of evidence – what survives is
inevitable very partial.
Why does the history of pharmacy matter to the
profession and to practicing pharmacists and
students today?
Why does the history of pharmacy matter to the
profession and to practicing pharmacists and
students today?
• Sense of profession – and pride?
• Providing context
• Assessing continuity and change
• Building empathy
• Strengthening transferable research and
analytical skills
• Following personal interests
How did apothecaries evolve into pharmacists?
How did apothecaries evolve into pharmacists?
• 1617 – Worshipful Society of Apothecaries founded
• 1704/5 – Rose Case established apothecaries’ right to
diagnose, moving them largely into general practice
• 1815 – Apothecaries Act established WSA as medical
regulator and examiner
• 1841 – Pharmaceutical Society founded

• Recent history – a move back to pharmacists as

apothecaries?
When did the functions of prescribing and
dispensing medicines split across professions?
Why was this necessary?
When did the functions of prescribing and
dispensing medicines split across professions?
Why was this necessary?
• Established during turf wars between physicians and
apothecaries from 1600s
• Formalised with Rose Case in 1700s
• Hierarchy re-established in 1800s
• Pharmacy’s dispensing role emphasised in early 1900s through
National Insurance Act – “separate the drugs from the doctors”
But:
• First pharmacy supplementary prescribing qualification in 2004
& independent prescribing in 2007 (University of Sunderland)
When did the first pharmacopeia emerge?
What is its relevance in modern pharmacy?
When did the first
pharmacopeia emerge?
What is its relevance in
modern pharmacy?
• Earliest? Ricettario Fiorentino - 1499
• London Pharmacopoeia 1618 – physicians vs
apothecaries
• Edinburgh Pharmacopoeia 1699
• Dublin Pharmacopoeia 1806
• First British Pharmacopoeia - 1864
• Control of hazardous substances,
standardisation, rationalisation
• Professional-patient relationship?
What events shaped the formation of the pharmacy
profession? How have the highs and lows led us to
the challenges pharmacy faces today?
What events shaped the formation of the pharmacy
profession? How have the highs and lows led us to
the challenges pharmacy faces today?
• Turf wars between healthcare professionals
• Education and training
• Trade vs profession
• Public health and control of hazardous substances

• Same issues today?

We are sitting in a special place – the first School of Pharmacy in the
UK – how was it linked to the Royal Pharmaceutical Society?
How has the RPS evolved over time?
We are sitting in a special place – the first School of Pharmacy in the UK.
How was it linked to the Royal Pharmaceutical Society?

Pharmaceutical Society Pharmacy and Poisons Act

founded with a key aim to establishes first register, linked school became independent
improve pharmacy education to examinations from Pharmaceutical Society

1842 1924 1967

1841 1868 1949

first lectures at new school: first BPharm degree approved pharmacy became an all-
chemistry, botany, materia by University of London degree profession
medica
Who was Harold Shipman? How did he impact
pharmacy and the medical profession?
Who was Harold Shipman? How did he impact
pharmacy and the medical profession?
• Dr Harold Shipman, GP, convicted in 2001 of 15 murders – probably 265
• Stockpiled CDs (diamorphine) mainly undetected by people or processes
• 2007 - government published recommendations focussed on patient safety
• 2010 – demerger of Royal Pharmaceutical Society of Great Britain:
- General Pharmaceutical Council (regulator)
- Royal Pharmaceutical Society (professional leadership body)
• Increased emphasis on:
• CDs audit trail
• Responding to public complaints and increased lay involvement
What was the impact of shifting
compounding medicines in pharmacies
to mass pharmaceutical manufacturing?
What was the impact of shifting compounding
medicines in pharmacies to mass pharmaceutical
manufacturing?
• 1700s/1800s – early brandname “one knew there was a future for
medicines and mass manufacture hospital pharmacists, one knew there
was a future for industrial pharmacists,
• 1800s – growth of mass
manufacture and international but one was not sure that one knew
pharmaceutical industry – the future for the general practice
Germany/US/UK [community] pharmacist”
• 1900s – consolidation of mass
manufacture Dr Gerard Vaughan, Minister for
Health, 1981
• Community pharmacy loss of role?
How did the discovery of antibiotics
change the healthcare landscape?
How did the discovery of
antibiotics change the healthcare
landscape?
• 1928 – Alexander Fleming discovered penicillin
• 1940s – Howard Florey and Ernst Chain led an team in Oxford that led
to clinical use and mass manufacture
• Perceptions of medicines: promise of cure, power of treatments
• Perceptions of professionals: changed relationship between medical
professional and patient?

• Antimicrobial resistance…
Now that Amazon has entered the pharmacy
sphere how will it disrupt the industry? Will
community pharmacies survive?
Now that Amazon has entered the pharmacy sphere how
will it disrupt the industry? Will community pharmacies
survive?
• Online pharmacies marked a major step change:
- Regulation challenge
- Customer power?
- Rethink opportunities for intervention and support
• Value of the shop as a retail space, community centre, in-person transactions?
• Perception of medicines
• Perception of pharmacists’ expertise

• What do you think?

Now its your turn to ask questions!
Thank you!