You know all those “Dearest friend” emails offering a half share of $30m from the estate of a Nigerian oil boss killed in an air crash? Or the authentic looking “urgent update” from banks at which we have no account? And the cleverly misspelt variations on Viagra that escape the spam guard? I delete all these fakes. Likewise, an email about female hypoactive sexual desire disorder was heading for the electronic dustbin, until I realised that this concerned a real job offer, forwarded by a university academic.

The drug industry …