Pharmaceuticals are a powerful presence in our daily lives. Turn on the TV for 15 minutes and you are likely to encounter numerous drug ads; scan the news headlines and you are sure to see reports on drug cost debates, latest miracle cures, or jarring tales of terrifying side effects. We look to drugs for everything from curing minor aches and pains to enhancing our personality. Are we hooked on the quick fix? What comes first--the drug or the condition that it is intended to treat? To begin to answer these questions, one first needs to understand something about the dynamic processes through which drugs are developed, manufactured, and marketed. These are the kinds of issues that will come up in the course, as exemplary of the questions that scholars in the social studies of medicine bring to their inquiries. |