Pharma, Gerald Posner
Pharma, Gerald Posner
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Pharma
Greed, Lies, and the Poisoning of America

Author: Gerald Posner

Narrator: Jacques Roy

Unabridged: 22 hr 55 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 03/10/2020


Synopsis

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.

About Gerald Posner

Gerald Posner is an award-winning journalist who has written twelve books, including the Pulitzer Prize finalist Case Closed and multiple national bestsellers. His 2015 book, God’s Bankers, a two-hundred-year history of the finances of the Vatican, was an acclaimed New York Times bestseller. Posner has written for many national magazines and papers, including The New York TimesThe New YorkerNewsweek, and Time, and he has been a regular contributor to NBC, the History Channel, CNN, CBS, MSNBC, and FOX News. He lives in Miami Beach with his wife, author Trisha Posner.


Reviews

Goodreads review by Mona on April 03, 2020

A must read for anyone in medical-related profession. This is a very extensive account on pharmaceutical business. Author in great detail reviews developed of particular medications and evolution of the entire industry, starting from the penicillin discovery in 1928, until Saklers empire bankruptcy i......more

Goodreads review by Gordon on October 13, 2020

You probably did not know that you could buy a dose of cocaine and a syringe from Sears Roebuck for the very reasonable price of $1.50 in the latter part of the 19th century. Or that heroin was invented in 1898 by Bayer, the company that was originally built on a foundation of aspirin, and that desp......more

Goodreads review by Trey on March 19, 2020

While several books cover the opioid crisis and the Sackler family, this book tells the shocking history of the pharma industry and Arthur Sackler’s early years. Some of the fascinating details include: • Several of today’s largest drug companies began by selling (then-legal) heroin, morphine, cannabi......more

Goodreads review by Mirek on March 17, 2020

I knew that pharmaceutical companies were not very ethical in their pursuit of profit, but I never realized the extent. Very good journalistic work, non-judgmental description (with the exception of the title) and thorough research. A very good read.......more

Goodreads review by Nancy on April 17, 2020

Extremely well researched. The greed, and the collusion between some parts of the government and the big shots in this industry, is mind-blowing. I cannot say it was fun reading about this stuff. But it was certainly enlightening.......more


Quotes

"Jacques Roy's consistently clear performance of Posner's audiobook is appropriate for its tone. Posner's research into the pharmaceutical industry is unsparing. Listeners are guided through the history of an industry that routinely seeks profit over public interest. Key details are covered: Why are there so many variants to over-the-counter painkillers? How did Oxycontin become so popular despite demonstrable public harm? Posner's research is exhaustive and provides damning insights. ('Pharma bro' Martin Shkreli was publicly vilified in 2015 for raising a vital drug's cost from $13 from $750, but that price remains unchanged.) Roy's approach to this work provides a neutral yet engaging tone for its information on the nature of this controversial industry."