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“Side Effects”: Cultural Constructions and Reinterpretations of Western Pharmaceuticals
Author(s) -
Etkin Nina L.
Publication year - 1992
Publication title -
medical anthropology quarterly
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.855
H-Index - 55
eISSN - 1548-1387
pISSN - 0745-5194
DOI - 10.1525/maq.1992.6.2.02a00010
Subject(s) - argument (complex analysis) , context (archaeology) , interpretation (philosophy) , identification (biology) , extension (predicate logic) , psychology , epistemology , sociology , medicine , history , ecology , computer science , biology , linguistics , philosophy , archaeology , programming language
This article discusses pharmacotherapeutic “side effects,” the identification and evaluation of which is especially mediated by social and cultural constructs. It argues that the knowledge and management of “primary” and “side” effects of pharmaceuticals are an extension of purposeful interactions of people with both allelochemicals and symbols constituent in medicinal plants. Drawing on research from West Africa and elsewhere, the author illustrates how the interpretation of “side effects” influences the selection, and in some aspects the transformation, of pharmaceuticals as they are rendered through local paradigms of physiology, nosology, and therapeutics. This analysis strengthens the argument for incorporating cultural context of use in the assessment of drug efficacy, introduction, and administration.