Abstract
This article explores the material and digital culture of warfarin, one of the most commonly prescribed medications in the world. The author uses the drug’s 60-year history to describe its materiality and use, showing how and why it has become an informed material. Three ethnographic cases then show where warfarin has produced and is now reproduced by three types of information: NHS Trust guidelines, genetic codes and the INR (International Normalized Ratio). When a drug becomes so entangled with informational and digital technologies, it becomes reliant on them for its proper and safe use; it can no longer be just an informed material but is a digitally informed one.
Original language | English |
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Pages (from-to) | 312-327 |
Number of pages | 16 |
Journal | Journal of Material Culture |
Volume | 23 |
Issue number | 3 |
Early online date | 12 Apr 2018 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - 1 Sept 2018 |
Keywords
- digital drugs
- digital materiality
- material culture
- medication
- warfarin
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Anthropology
- Archaeology
- Arts and Humanities (miscellaneous)