Date of Award
8-1981
Degree Name
Master of Arts
Department
Sociology
First Advisor
Dr. Gerald Markle
Second Advisor
Dr. Ellen Page-Robin
Third Advisor
Dr. Ronald Kramer
Access Setting
Masters Thesis-Open Access
Abstract
This thesis investigated social and medical aspects of the Estrogen Replacement Controversy (ERT) in the United States and Great Britain. American researchers claim that ERT, a treatment for menopausal and postmenopausal problems, substantially increases the risk of endometrial cancer; British researchers minimize the risk and instead emphasize benefits of the treatment. Whereas British medical practitioners are reluctant to prescribe ERT, their American counterparts widely prescribe the treatment. American feminists and consumer groups strongly oppose ERT; similar groups in Britain demand the treatment. Whereas the British government has not regulated the drug, in America, increasing restrictions have been placed on ERT. To shed light on the interaction between epistemological and ideological factors, the social forces which shape the controversy, varying independently cross-culturally, were explored and elucidated. This controversy is of interest since it demonstrates how two countries, reach contradictory conclusions to the same problem based on the same scientific data.
Recommended Citation
McCrea, Frances B., "Politics and Medicine in the Estrogen Replacement Controversy: A Comparative Analysis of the United States and Great Britain" (1981). Masters Theses. 1754.
https://scholarworks.wmich.edu/masters_theses/1754