Every year, the pharmaceutical industry in the USA spends billions of dollars on direct-to-consumer advertisements for medications that are only available on prescription. In other countries, such advertising is often banned. Advertising to the medical profession is, however, universal - companies need to inform doctors of the products and their use. (more…)

The problem with writing articles is that it forces you to take a small piece of something complicated and say a little about it. In a book you have more space to explore the issues at length - which neatly bring me to Impotence: a Cultural History by Angus McLaren, Chicago Press, 2007. This is a fascinating historical survey of cultural attitudes towards impotence through the ages. It starts with the Greeks and Romans and slowly works its way up to modern times. To some extent, it retreads the same ground as the History of Sexuality by Michel Foucault (in three volumes) but without the same depth of philosophical postmodernism to inform it. Some readers may prefer McLaren because he is more descriptive than analytical. (more…)