The Big Fix: How The Pharmaceutical Industry Rips Off American Consumers (Publicaffairs Reports) [Paperback]

Katharine Greider (Author)

Book Description

Series: Publicaffairs Reports | Publication Date: May 6, 2003

As the pharmaceutical industry invests more and more in the development of new drugs, true breakthroughs are few and far between. Into the breach comes a panoply of product-line extensions and me-too drugs aimed at grabbing market share. The industry plows its high profits back into research, but invests an equal or greater sum in flogging its products in every imaginable venue. Research studies are designed to support marketing claims. Many doctors all over the country get their first information about new drugs from a salesperson. And, increasingly, prescription drugs are pitched to consumers on TV and the internet with images of hope, terror, or chic. Evidence-based practice guidelines, which endeavor to get the right medicines to those who will benefit most, can't be heard over the din.

Having created an unprecedented number of "megabrands"—blockbuster drugs with huge sales—and undergone an extraordinary wave of consolidation, some drug companies now find themselves in a precarious position. Patents are expiring on flagship products. In order to sustain the growth Wall Street has come to expect, these companies must produce billions of dollars worth of new revenue—fast. But can Americans continue to bankroll Operation Grow Big Pharma? Must we swallow the bad with the good?

Editorial Reviews

Review

"a highly informative description of how and why drug companies are such powerful, successful businesses." -- Washington Post Book World, July 13, 2003.

About the Author

Katharine Greider has worked as a newspaper reporter and freelance magazine writer. Her articles, often focusing on health and medical topics, have appeared in a dozen publications from Self to Mother Jones. She lives in New York City with her family.

Product Details

• Paperback: 208 pages
• Publisher: PublicAffairs; 1 edition (May 6, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1586481851
• ISBN-13: 978-1586481858
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.5 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #883,045 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

I grew up in a white brick house in Washington, D.C. The branches of two dogwoods, one white, one pink, met over the front walk. I carry that place around with me everywhere I go. In little ways I've adapted and recreated it in New York City, where I've lived most of my adult life with my husband and two kids. The Archaeology of Home is about the rag-tag, 150-year-old building in downtown Manhattan where we lived in the 1990s. It's also about the abiding human impulse to find permanence and meaning in the places we call home.

I've written on all kinds of subjects in a variety of venues, from non-profit publications to fashion and parenting magazines, to newspapers large and small. I've written poems I read aloud to a dozen people, my heart pounding. I was a small-town daily reporter and learned a lot from the tough love readers offer in the grocery store the day after you've written about their school or workplace or church. Some critics say ordinary people should stop pouring out their experiences in blogs and memoirs. I disagree. Those are the stories I want to hear, and to tell.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

42 of 48 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Sick, sick, sick, June 2, 2003

By A Customer

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Big Fix: How The Pharmaceutical Industry Rips Off American Consumers (Publicaffairs Reports) (Paperback)

Did you know that when you or your insurance company plunk down big bucks for your Zocor or Zoloft or Zyrtec, you're paying nearly twice as much as the French and Italians and about a third again as much as the Swedes, Swiss, Germans and Canadians? What for? If you believe the pharmaceutical industry, the high price of your prescription is supporting research that could save your life. And so it does, but not nearly to the extent we've been led to believe. In fact, as you'll learn in this well documented new book, much of that research is done on your tax dollar by Uncle Sam, with the drug companies reaping the profits at little or no expense to themselves. Your drug dollars are also paying for 625 industry lobbyists--a contingent larger than Congress itself. You're also subsidizing anti-consumer legal battles, like the one against that Maine law designed to get competitive drug pricing for Medicaid and uninsured patients that was just upheld by the Supreme Court. And all those lawsuits to prevent or stall low-priced generics from getting onto the market after patents expire. And then there's the annual $2.6 billion in consumer advertising--a tenfold increase in just a decade, and all those free samples and other rewards to doctors. Is this how you want your hard-earned healthcare dollars spent? Do you really want the pharmaceutical industry setting America's drug policy? If not, what can you do about it? Reading this excellent book is a very good place to start.

21 of 24 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars cogent, revealing, compelling reading, May 21, 2003

By A Customer

This review is from: The Big Fix: How The Pharmaceutical Industry Rips Off American Consumers (Publicaffairs Reports) (Paperback)

If you've ever stood at the pharmacy counter and wondered why the prescriptions you've just picked up cost so much, this book has the answers. Big Pharma - the major drug companies - need to make big profits, and the author explains how they use the money you pay them. She does it without being sensational or shrill, instead calmly laying out the facts of direct-to-consumer advertising, pharma-sponsored conferences, pharma-sponsored research, vacations and coffee mugs and big consulting fees for doctors. I for one had no idea of the extent of their reach, and I find it shocking and enraging. Big Pharma virtually sets the health agenda, and after reading this book I have a clearer sense of how they do it. I hope our politicians pay heed, and start fixing this disaster.

19 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Excellent discussion of prescription drug issues, May 30, 2003

By A Customer

This review is from: The Big Fix: How The Pharmaceutical Industry Rips Off American Consumers (Publicaffairs Reports) (Paperback)

Despite the inflamatory title, for which I deducted one star, this book is a compelling read. Whatever side of the drug prcing and access debate you are on, you can learn from Ms. Greider's review of the core issues. She makes the issues entirely understandable and it is actually a fascinating read.

What is clear is that the status quo will not stand. That is, the polical pressure and books like these will force the drug industry to either lower or slow down price increases. If not, then legislative action largely from states, will put a cap on prices through state pricing negotiations with drug companies. This book, despite the insulting title, should be read by all drug company executives. While I doubt it is a "big fix", I have no doubt aggressive drug marketing practices are not all pure and need some revisions soon.