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Composed entirely of specially commissioned chapters by many outstanding scholars in medical sociology, this edition reflects important changes in the study of health and illness. In addition to updated and reconceived chapters on the impacts of gender, race, and inequality on health, this volume has new chapters on topics that include: * social networks, neighborhoods, and social capital * disability * dying and "the right to die" * health disparities * the growing influence of the pharmaceutical industry * the Internet * evidence-based medicine and quality of care * health social movements * genetics * religion, spirituality, and health