Popularity and Scepticism : Contrasting Views about Medical Drugs
The authors contrast and discuss two views on medical drugs. Their own research and studies by others point at the wide popularity of pharmaceuticals in both high income and poor societies. At the same time, however, they came across evidence of a counter view: a more sceptical and reluctant attitude towards pharmaceuticals. They see scepticism about biomedical drugs as a kind of incipient medicinal politics, formulated in both individual and cultural categorical terms. The paper reviews the reasons for the worldwide popularity of drugs, and then suggests that some of the same factors may help to understand reluctance to use them in other circumstances.