The emerging dominance of synthetic medicines is not due only to their purely scientific value, as is generally believed, but has been fundamentally facilitated by a number of societal factors that are usually overlooked. They are the patent system, demography, modern wars, fundation of social insurance and mass health care with the widespread operation of medical practices and pharmacies, the spread of industry-made finished medicinal products, the evolving marketing of the pharmaceutical industry and the drug authorisation system. This study analyses their role in the emerging dominance of synthetic medicines.  Kulcsszavak: szintetikus vegyületek, szabadalmi rendszer, háborúk, demográfia, gyógyszertárak, gyógyszerészek, biztosítás, ipar, hatósági engedélyek