Pharma Pharma

Pharma

Greed, Lies, and the Poisoning of America

    • 4.2 • 16 Ratings
    • $16.99

Publisher Description

Award-winning journalist and New York Times bestselling author Gerald Posner reveals the heroes and villains of the trillion-dollar-a-year pharmaceutical industry and delivers “a withering and encyclopedic indictment of a drug industry that often seems to prioritize profits over patients (The New York Times Book Review).

Pharmaceutical breakthroughs such as anti­biotics and vaccines rank among some of the greatest advancements in human history. Yet exorbitant prices for life-saving drugs, safety recalls affecting tens of millions of Americans, and soaring rates of addiction and overdose on pre­scription opioids have caused many to lose faith in drug companies. Now, Americans are demanding a national reckoning with a monolithic industry.

Gerald’s dogged reporting, sets Pharma apart from all books on this subject” (The Washington Standard) as we are introduced to brilliant scientists, incorruptible government regulators, and brave whistleblowers facing off against company exec­utives often blinded by greed. A business that profits from treating ills can create far deadlier problems than it cures. Addictive products are part of the industry’s DNA, from the days when corner drugstores sold morphine, heroin, and cocaine, to the past two decades of dangerously overprescribed opioids.

Pharma also uncovers the real story of the Sacklers, the family that became one of America’s wealthiest from the success of OxyContin, their blockbuster narcotic painkiller at the center of the opioid crisis. Relying on thousands of pages of government and corporate archives, dozens of hours of interviews with insiders, and previously classified FBI files, Posner exposes the secrets of the Sacklers’ rise to power—revelations that have long been buried under a byzantine web of interlocking companies with ever-changing names and hidden owners. The unexpected twists and turns of the Sackler family saga are told against the startling chronicle of a powerful industry that sits at the intersection of public health and profits. “Explosively, even addictively, readable” (Booklist, starred review), Pharma reveals how and why American drug com­panies have put earnings ahead of patients.

GENRE
Business & Personal Finance
RELEASED
2020
March 10
LANGUAGE
EN
English
LENGTH
816
Pages
PUBLISHER
Avid Reader Press / Simon & Schuster
SELLER
Simon & Schuster Digital Sales LLC
SIZE
6.9
MB

Customer Reviews

usingfromjersey ,

REQUIRED READING FOR MEDICAL PROFESSIONALS

The book should be required for medical students and all medical professionals!

I think this book, PHARMA, is perhaps one of the most important works I have ever read. It thrusts an unvarnished truth about the pharmaceutical industry that is often hidden from view of the public and medical professionals for the simple reason that what is in this book is not taught in medical schools and rarely featured on the news programs. I think it was important to start the story many years ago, because at the end of the book it really did become clear in my mind that the pharmaceutical industry began as heroin dealers and one could argue little has changed. The historical line might have zigged and zagged, but with the aid of the book its apparent what the motives have always been.

I have been following the pharmaceutical industry for many years. Specially with a focus on the information described in great detail in this book such as the circumstances surrounding the topics of opioids, barbiturates, benzodiazepines, amphetamines, vaccines, and drugs such as Vioxx. I consider this book to be the absolute magnum opus on the topic of the pharmaceutical industry.

Overall, I can’t thank the author enough for writing this book. This is a treasure for humanity and I suspect will be regarded as such as time goes on. I am confident in my assessment of the importance of this book especially when considering that we are a society heavily intertwined and connected to the pharmaceutical industry.

I have been raving about PHARMA to my friends every time I had a epiphany moment while reading, which was pretty much every few pages. I will remember the lesions I have learned in it for the rest of my life.

The book should be required for medical students or any medical professional!
Probably would make an amazing movie or news special one day.

I am giving this book my most highest recommendation for anyone who has ever taken or prescribed a medication. In other words, this book is required reading!

smoger1111111 ,

Pharma

The best page turner

The Corporation The Corporation
2019
When the Wolves Bite When the Wolves Bite
2018
Why They Do It Why They Do It
2016
Loonshots Loonshots
2019
Leap Leap
2018
Illiberal Reformers Illiberal Reformers
2016
Case Closed Case Closed
2013
Hitler's Children Hitler's Children
1991
Motown Motown
2002
Killing the Dream Killing the Dream
2013
God's Bankers God's Bankers
2015
The Posner Files The Posner Files
2018
A Convenient Death A Convenient Death
2020
The Sweet Life with Bitcoin: How I Stopped Worrying about Cryptocurrency and You Should Too! The Sweet Life with Bitcoin: How I Stopped Worrying about Cryptocurrency and You Should Too!
2021
Nightmare Scenario Nightmare Scenario
2021
The Wolves of K Street The Wolves of K Street
2024
The Contrarian The Contrarian
2021
Preventable Preventable
2021