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Irwin Goldstein, In the End, “Sex is Complicated”, The Journal of Sexual Medicine, Volume 4, Issue 3, May 2007, Pages 523–525, https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1743-6109.2007.00483.x
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May marks the mid-point of spring, a welcome respite from a long, cold, harsh, and difficult winter for many. In some cases this winter was quite strange, with the effects of global warming becoming more evident. I was driving in Boston in mid-January, usually the coldest time of the year, with the air conditioner on because the temperature was so warm, while in Santa Monica, California, snow was falling on the beach. Spring has brought a relief for some and further strange weather for others. Many of us live in places where the only certainty to the weather is its uncertainty—predicting weather is complicated. So how does that thought apply to the field of sexual medicine and The Journal of Sexual Medicine (JSM)?
At a recent international meeting, I found myself sitting in the hotel lobby bar in deep conversation with a dear friend from the pharmaceutical industry who announced, in confidence, retirement from our field. I was shocked! “And what about the other half of the dynamic duo?” There was confirmation that both members of the team were leaving. This information was shared shortly after the announcement from a different company of the sale of its rights to a sexual medicine drug to its former partner resulting in the release of its entire workforce. Another company had just undergone reorganization and laid off or reassigned numerous employees, including a close colleague who had been in the field since the beginning of the oral pill clinical trials. I asked my friend about these actions and the response was quick and without much reflection. “The sexual medicine market did not grow as expected.” When asked why, the answer was more cryptic. “Oh many reasons. In the end, though, sex is complicated.”
