De bittere pil van farmaceutische mechanisatie (1960-1970): Hoe de sixties-apotheker evolueerde van pillendraaier naar huisvader van het volk.

The aim of the article is to shed light on the relationship between the pharmacist and the pharmaceutical industry in Belgium in the 1960s. It focuses on the question how the pharmacist managed to adapt his professional tasks to the gradual industrialisation of pharmaceutical research and production. The research was based on publications of Het Apothekersblad, the professional journal of the Algemene Pharmaceutische Bond (APB). The first part discusses how the pharmacist was no longer hostile to pharmaceutical companies in the 1960s, a struggle which he probably abandoned for pragmatic reasons. He recognised - albeit after a difficult process - that research and development could best take place on an industrial scale. This leads to the question of how the pharmacist managed to redefine his tasks. Commercialisation was out of the question. Conformity control, i.e. control before delivery, came to be one of the main responsibilities. In addition, the pharmacist increasingly took on the role of adviser and informed customers on correct use, abuse and potential risks of pharmaceuticals/medicines. Health education, a largely unexplored field, also aligned with his field of work. The pharmacist compensated for the decline of traditional craftwork by revaluing the social aspects of the profession