Bad Pharma. How Medicine In Broken, And How We Can Fix It (2012)

Book Info

Author

Ben Goldacre

Genre

Nonfiction

Rating

4.07 of 5 Votes: 4

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ISBN

000749808X (ISBN13: 9780007498086)

Language

English

Publisher

FOURTH ESTATE LTD

Shops

Amazon.com, Barnes & Noble

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About book Bad Pharma. How Medicine In Broken, And How We Can Fix It (2012)

This book is not unbiased, but it is largely fair. The "bad" examples really happened, and some of the behaviors are still widespread - like failure to publish clinical trial results even years after the trial has been completed. As someone who's worked for two of the biggest firms, I'm still unhappy by the lack of transparency. But I do see signs of improvement. No company wants to have a reputation of being the lowest of the low. More people should read this book, and demand better accountability from their own doctors, and the companies and regulatory agencies too. As a medical resident, I cannot speak highly enough of this book. Certainly for anyone involved as a prescriber (MDs, mainly), it ought to be a compulsory read as early as medical school. It has drastically changed the way I approach the pharmaceutical industry as well as the medical literature. As a read, I would say it is not cumbersome nor difficult for the layperson. As a medical doctor, I skimmed a few of the sections.