Valium, the tranquilizer that sent former national security adviser Robert C. McFarlane to the hospital last week, never seems to stray far from the public limelight.To critics, Valium epitomizes the self-defeating "pill for every ill" mentality. To others, including millions who use the drug at least occasionally, it's a medicinal marvel, a way of coping with illness, pain and stress.
To both, it has become a metaphor for Americans in the age of anxiety.
"Valium seems to get mentioned in every Woody Allen movie and every Neil Simon play," said John T. Doorley, director of corporate ...
