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How medicine became a moneymaker

Karen Bloom Gevirtz explores how medicine has been transformed over the past 500 years – from the sharing of domestic recipes to a full-blown moneymaking industry

Published: January 30, 2025 at 7:30 AM

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How did we go from sharing homegrown cures free of charge to buying medicine from strangers on the open market? This transition is more complex than you might think, and it's something that Karen Bloom Gevirtz explores in her book The Apothecary's Wife. Speaking to Ellie Cawthorne, Karen revisits some traditional remedies, explores women's overlooked role in medical history, and considers the lessons that modern pharmaceuticals could learn from the past.

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Karen Bloom Gevirtz is the author of The Apothecary's Wife: The Hidden History of Medicine and How It Became a Commodity (Apollo, 2024)

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Authors

Ellie CawthorneHead of content (audio)

Ellie Cawthorne is head of content (audio) at HistoryExtra

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