Side Effects

Name: Side Effects
Price: 52.95 AUD
Availability: OutOfStock
ISBN: 9780231217804

The Social Ecology of Adverse Drug Reactions

Jason Schnittker (Professor, University of Pennsylvania), Duy Do

$52.95

Paperback

Not in-store but you can order this
How long will it take?

Availability Information

We source books from suppliers in Australia and overseas. For books we don't currently have in stock, the time it takes to get them from our suppliers can vary widely - from a few days to a few months - so we check each book with each supplier to determine the expected time it will take to be supplied to us.

We will update you on expected arrival time to us. If this delay is too long, please let us know within 2 business days and we can give you options regarding cancelling or adjusting your order. More details on cancelling your order can be found in our Terms of Trade.

To find out the anticipated arrival time for specific items prior to ordering, please contact us by phone or email:

Phone +61 2 9264 3111, or 1800 4 BOOKS (1800 4 26657) if outside Sydney:
option 1 Abbey's Bookshop (Crime, History, Science, Kids & more) • info@abbeys.com.au
option 2 Language Book Centre (ESL & Foreign Languages) • language@abbeys.com.au
option 3 Galaxy Bookshop (Sci-fi, Fantasy, Romance, Graphic Novels) • sf@galaxybooks.com.au

QTY:

English

Columbia University Press
05 May 2026

Sociology & anthropology

Side effects are common, but their origins and consequences remain unclear. Medications that target a disease can produce reactions far removed from it. Few side effects have been provably linked to a drug's active ingredients. But side effects matter: Many people are reluctant to take vaccines and other pharmaceuticals because of side effects, even if these reactions are minor compared to the disease a medication prevents or treats. Because side effects do not fit comfortably within the framework of modern medicine, they continue to confound.

This book uncovers the social origins of side effects and their consequences for patients, physicians, and the health care system. Jason Schnittker and Duy Do argue that side effects emerge from the interaction of cultural, institutional, and psychological factors. Side effects reflect how manufacturers and regulators evaluate the effectiveness and safety of a drug, as well as how physicians consider the risks and benefits. They are also influenced by the beliefs, expectations, and experiences that patients use to interpret their treatment and symptoms. Drawing on pharmaceutical data, surveys, and public opinion polls, Schnittker and Do develop a framework for understanding the social ecology of side effects. A keen sociological analysis of how we grapple with medicine's unintended consequences, this book shows how side effects are shaped by their social context.

By: Jason Schnittker (Professor University of Pennsylvania), Duy Do
Imprint: Columbia University Press
Country of Publication: United States
Dimensions: Height: 216mm, Width: 140mm,
ISBN: 9780231217804
ISBN 10: 0231217803
Pages: 352
Publication Date: 05 May 2026
Audience: Professional and scholarly , Undergraduate
Format: Paperback
Publisher's Status: Active

Jason Schnittker is a professor of sociology at the University of Pennsylvania. His previous Columbia University Press books are The Diagnostic System: Why the Classification of Psychiatric Disorders Is Necessary, Difficult, and Never Settled (2017) and Unnerved: Anxiety, Social Change, and the Transformation of Modern Mental Health (2021). Duy Do is a senior research advisor at Evernorth Research Institute. He holds a PhD in demography from the University of Pennsylvania.

Reviews for Side Effects: The Social Ecology of Adverse Drug Reactions

In Side Effects, Jason Schnittker and Duy Do provide a deeply researched sociological appreciation of contemporary society’s attempt to perceive and manage side effects. In a dazzling exposition of scholarly insights, this book’s dual strengths reside in providing an interdisciplinary synthesis of the scholarship on side effects and in offering groundbreaking empirical quantitative analyses. -- Stefan Timmermans, coauthor of <i>The Unclaimed: Abandonment and Hope in the City of Angels</i> Schnittker and Do show how focusing on side effects—rather than shunting them aside—yields powerful insights. Though experienced individually and idiosyncratically, side effects are simultaneously social and cultural. This pathbreaking book takes a vital first step toward unraveling their confounding mysteries. -- Owen Whooley, author of <i>On the Heels of Ignorance: Psychiatry and the Politics of Not Knowing</i>