By Joanne Laurier
3 January 2005
Use this version to print | Send this link by email | Email the author
The Truth About the Drug Companies: How They Deceive Us and What to do About it by Marcia Angell M.D., published by Random House, 304 pp.; Overdosed America: the Broken Promise of American Medicine, by John Abramson, M.D., published by Harper Collins, 332 pp.
Major pharmaceutical companies have been hit recently by an array of scandals regarding the safety of certain “ blockbuster” drugs. Merck’s Vioxx, a leading arthritis and pain medication was withdrawn from the market after it was shown to have caused thousands of heart attacks and an estimated 55,000 deaths. Its leading competitor, Celebrex, manufactured by Pfizer, faces similar difficulties.
Other drugs, including over-the-counter remedies, are also being scrutinized for severe, unwanted side-effects. On December 18 the Detroit Free Press released its own analysis concluding that many thousands of Americans are getting sick and dying from prescription drugs prematurely entering the market.
Two recently-published books provide valuable insights and describe in devastating detail the operations of the pharmaceutical industry—the consequences of its domination of government agencies and the medical establishment. The Truth About the Drug Companies: How They Deceive Us And What To Do About It is written by Marcia Angell, M.D.; Overdosed America: The Broken Promise of American Medicine is authored by John Abramson, M.D.
A former editor-in-chief of the New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM), Angell witnessed the work of that prestigious journal come increasingly under the influence of the drug industry. She claims in the volume’s introduction that the pharmaceuticals began exercising “a level of control over the way research is done that was unheard of when I first came to the journal, and the aim was clearly to load the dice to make sure their drugs looked good.” (p. xviii)
The author of Overdosed America, Abramson, is a family doctor on the clinical faculty of Harvard Medical School. He was prompted to write his book because of what he perceived as the corporate takeover of medical research. Trained as a statistician, he “ researched the research,” and found that “even the most respected medical journals seemed more like infomercials whose purpose was to promote their sponsors’ products rather than to search for the best ways to improve people’s health.” (p. xii)
3 January 2005
Use this version to print | Send this link by email | Email the author
The Truth About the Drug Companies: How They Deceive Us and What to do About it by Marcia Angell M.D., published by Random House, 304 pp.; Overdosed America: the Broken Promise of American Medicine, by John Abramson, M.D., published by Harper Collins, 332 pp.
Major pharmaceutical companies have been hit recently by an array of scandals regarding the safety of certain “ blockbuster” drugs. Merck’s Vioxx, a leading arthritis and pain medication was withdrawn from the market after it was shown to have caused thousands of heart attacks and an estimated 55,000 deaths. Its leading competitor, Celebrex, manufactured by Pfizer, faces similar difficulties.
Other drugs, including over-the-counter remedies, are also being scrutinized for severe, unwanted side-effects. On December 18 the Detroit Free Press released its own analysis concluding that many thousands of Americans are getting sick and dying from prescription drugs prematurely entering the market.
Two recently-published books provide valuable insights and describe in devastating detail the operations of the pharmaceutical industry—the consequences of its domination of government agencies and the medical establishment. The Truth About the Drug Companies: How They Deceive Us And What To Do About It is written by Marcia Angell, M.D.; Overdosed America: The Broken Promise of American Medicine is authored by John Abramson, M.D.
A former editor-in-chief of the New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM), Angell witnessed the work of that prestigious journal come increasingly under the influence of the drug industry. She claims in the volume’s introduction that the pharmaceuticals began exercising “a level of control over the way research is done that was unheard of when I first came to the journal, and the aim was clearly to load the dice to make sure their drugs looked good.” (p. xviii)
The author of Overdosed America, Abramson, is a family doctor on the clinical faculty of Harvard Medical School. He was prompted to write his book because of what he perceived as the corporate takeover of medical research. Trained as a statistician, he “ researched the research,” and found that “even the most respected medical journals seemed more like infomercials whose purpose was to promote their sponsors’ products rather than to search for the best ways to improve people’s health.” (p. xii)