"Overdosed America reveals the greed and corruption that drive
health care costs skyward and now threaten the public health. Before you
see a doctor, you should read this book." --Eric Schlosser, author
of Fast Food Nation
Using the examples of Vioxx, Celebrex, cholesterol-lowering statin
drugs, and anti-depressants, Overdosed America shows that at the heart
of the current crisis in American medicine lies the commercialization of
medical knowledge itself
For twenty years, John Abramson, M.D., cared for patients of all ages in
a small town north of Boston. But increasingly his role as family doctor
was undermined as pressure mounted to use the latest drugs and high-tech
solutions for nearly every problem. Drawing on his background in
statistics and health policy research, he began to investigate the
radical changes that were quietly taking place in American medicine.
At the heart of the crisis, he found, lies the changed purpose of
medical knowledge--from seeking to optimize health to searching for the
greatest profits. The lack of transparency that has become normal in
commercially sponsored medical research now taints the scientific
evidence published in even our most prestigious medical journals. And
unlike the recent scandals in other industries that robbed Americans of
money and jobs, this one is undermining our health.
Commercial distortion pervades the information that doctors rely upon to
guide the prevention and treatment of common health problems, from heart
disease to stroke, osteoporosis, diabetes, and osteoarthritis. The good
news, as Dr. Abramson explains, is that the real scientific evidence
shows that many of the things that you can do to protect and preserve
your own health are far more effective than what the drug companies'
top-selling products can do for you--which is why the drug companies
work so hard to keep this information under wraps.
In what is sure to be one of the most important and eye-opening books
you or your doctor will ever read, John Abramson offers conclusive
evidence that American medicine has broken its promise to best improve
our health and is squandering more than $500 billion each year in the
process.
