Pharmaceutical Press, 2005. A history of the pro-
fession of pharmacy from the time of the ancient
civilizations to 2005.
Cohen, Jillian Clare, Patricia Illingworth, and Udo
Schuklenk, eds.The Power of Pills: Social, Ethical,
and Legal Issues in Drug Development, Marketing, and
Pricing. London: Pluto Press, 2006. Essays discuss
the development, pricing, and distribution of
drugs worldwide, with a focus on the lack of ac-
cess by one-third of the world population to phar-
maceuticals and on what drives new drug re-
search.
Hilts, Philip J.Protecting America’s Health: The FDA,
Business, and One Hundred Years of Regulation. Cha-
pel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 2003.
This history of the FDA tracks the agency respon-
sible for drug approval from its inception during
Theodore Roosevelt’s administration into the
twenty-first century.
Ruschmann, Paul.Prescription and Non-prescription
Drugs. Point/Counterpoint. New York: Chelsea
House, 2007. Discusses the legal issues of regula-
tion and access to pharmaceuticals, presenting
arguments for different sides of regulation of the
drug industry.
Emily Carroll Shearer
See also Advertising; Antidepressants; Attention-
deficit disorder; Cancer research; Depo-Provera;
Drug advertising; Drug use; Fen-phen; Health care;
Viagra.
Philadelphia
Identification Academy Award-winning film
Director Jonathan Demme (1944- )
Date Released on December 23, 1993
This groundbreaking film dealt openly with homophobia
and discrimination and was one of the first motion pictures
to deal with HIV/AIDS in the workplace.
The filmPhiladelphiawas written by Ron Nyswaner,
who based the screenplay partly on the story of
Geoffrey Bowers, an attorney who, after having been
wrongfully terminated in 1987 from his law firm,
Baker and McKenzie, filed one of the earliest AIDS-
discrimination lawsuits. In the film, Tom Hanks
plays Andrew Beckett, a young, successful lawyer try-
ing to live a normal life despite having recently been
diagnosed with acquired immunodeficiency syn-
drome (AIDS). Since he works for a very conserva-
tive law firm and an openly homophobic boss, the
University of Pennsylvania graduate has kept his sex-
ual orientation (and his partner) secret from his
friends and colleagues. Unfortunately, when his dis-
ease begins to become apparent to his colleagues,
Beckett finds that any goodwill he might have en-
joyed among them has vanished and he is no longer
welcome. His work on a major case is sabotaged,
leading to his prompt dismissal from the firm. An-
gered by his callous treatment, Beckett decides to
sue his company for illegal dismissal, lost earnings,
and punitive damages, but he is shocked to discover
that none of the attorneys he approaches are willing
to take an AIDS patient as a client. Only Joe Miller,
played by Denzel Washington, is willing to give
Beckett a chance to take his case to court.
Their case is not an easy one by any stretch of the
imagination. Over time, both individuals come to re-
spect each other’s tenacity. Miller’s task—to prove
that Beckett has been fired solely because of his ho-
mosexuality and HIV status—is difficult because of
the inherently controversial nature of Beckett’s dis-
ease. Further, the partners of Beckett’s firm prove
themselves only too willing to defame their former
colleague and openly lie on the stand. Fortunately,
their perjury does not, ultimately, sway the opinion
of the jury; the firm is ordered to pay Beckett
$140,000 in back pay, $100,000 for pain and suf-
fering, and $4 million in punitive damages even as
he, suffering the final ravages of his disease, lies
dying.
Impact Philadelphiawas not the first film to deal
with the treatment of AIDS sufferers in mainstream
society—the made-for-television movieAnd the Band
Played On(based on the 1987 book by Randy Shilts),
starring Alan Alda and Matthew Modine, had previ-
ously been released in 1993—but it was equally
groundbreaking in its realistic depictions of homo-
sexual characters. Hanks won an Academy Award for
Best Actor, and Bruce Springsteen earned an Acad-
emy Award for Best Original Song for “Streets of
Philadelphia.”Philadelphiawas part of a general
trend in the 1990’s toward increased visibility of ho-
mosexuality in television, film, and the media.
Further Reading
Cante, Richard C. “Afterthoughts from Philadel-
phia... and Somewhere Else.” InGay Men and theThe Nineties in America Philadelphia 667