"When many cures are offered for a disease, it means the disease is not curable" -Anton Chekhov
''Once you tell people there's a cure for something, the more likely they are to pressure doctors to prescribe it.'' -Robert Ehrlich, drug advertising executive.
"Opinions are like sphincters, everyone has one." - Chris Rangel
I'm voting for the breakthrough of effective contraceptive pills. In terms of changing society as whole it has allowed us to delay childbirth, marriage, and limit number of offspring. Women now outnumber men in terms of seeking higher level degrees. Not all of this is due to one pill, of course, but with 2/3 of my friends being on it...daily/weekly/monthly/etc. I would say it has had the most profound effect overall.