These books I would consider required reading for people who would like to see the true face of big pharma.
They are all pieces of a bigger puzzle: how corporate greed can undermine the health of an entire nation.
Selling Sickness: How the World’s Biggest Pharmaceutical Companies Are Turning Us All Into Patients
In this book, authors Ray Moynihan and Alan Cassels examine how drug companies manufacture or exaggerate illnesses, over-promote drugs while concealing side-effects and control the FDA and other agencies.
It also covers Big Pharma’s secret ownership of patient support groups, control over Continuing Medical Education and its powerful political lobby.
Originally Posted June 30, 2006.
The Truth About the Drug Companies: How They Deceive Us and What to Do About It
In this book, Marcia Angell argues that American drug companies have corrupted congress, the FDA and members of the medical profession.
Ms. Angell examines drug company profits and expenditures on marketing to physicians/consumers compared to the relatively small amount spent on research and development of new drugs.
Finally, Ms. Angell offers concrete suggestions for reforming the American drug industry. It is a timely read as the debate over importing prescription drugs from Canada heats up.
Originally Posted August 19, 2004.
The $800 Million Pill: The Truth behind the Cost of New Drugs
In this book, Merrill Goozner dismantles big pharma’s assertion that drug prices must be kept high in order to maintain research.
Industry officials claim that the cost of each new drug averages $800 million but the author argues that citizens already pay much of that bill through taxpayer-financed medical research.
Recommended.
Originally Posted May 09, 2004.
The Big Fix: How the Pharmaceutical Industry Rips Off American Consumers
In this book, Katherine Greider uncovers how the drug industry increases profits at the expense of consumers in the United States.
Ms. Greider examines issues such as “me-too” drugs, research studies specifically designed to support marketing claims and the controversial tactics used to market prescription drugs not only to doctors but directly to consumers.
Originally Posted April 20, 2004.
Over Dose: The Case Against the Drug Companies: Prescription Drugs, Side Effects, and Your Health
In this book, Dr. Jay S. Cohen maintains that recommended doses are too high for many people and cause unnecessary adverse reactions including dizziness, nausea and death. Dr. Cohen exposes drug company misdeeds and shows consumers exactly how to monitor and control their own drug intake.
This book includes practical information on the potential dangers and safe uses of the bestselling drugs such as Prozac, Claritin, Viagra and Lipitor. It also covers a wide range of estrogen-replacement, anti-inflammatory and blood-pressure medications.
Originally Posted April 18, 2004.
Extremely well-written piece of investigative journalism that unmasks the greed of big pharma, medical researchers and even some physicians.
According to Marcia Angell:
“A devastating, often shocking, critique of a once proud industry that has been converted by corporate greed into a vast marketing machine that is often a menace to health. Petersen supports her indictment with an abundance of fascinating detail and human interest stories. An excellent contribution to the growing demand for better regulation of an industry that has grown way too powerful and heedless of the interests of its customers.”
Marcia Angell, M. D., Senior Lecturer in Social Medicine, Harvard Medical School and Arnold S. Relman, M. D., Prof. Emeritus of Medicine and of Social Medicine, Harvard Medical School
Growing Old Is Not for Sissies II: Portraits of Senior Athletes
Inspirational.