Confessions of an Rx Drug Pusher [Paperback]

Gwen Olsen (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 24, 2009

On December 2, 2004, Gwen Olsen's niece Megan committed suicide by setting herself on fire-and ended her tortured life as a victim of the adverse effects of prescription drugs. Olsen's poignant autobiographical journey through the darkness of mental illness and the catastrophic consequences that lurk in medicine cabinets around the country offers an honest glimpse into alarming statistics and a health care system ranked last among nineteen industrialized nations worldwide. As a former sales representative in the pharmaceutical industry for several years, Olsen learned firsthand how an unprecedented number of lethal drugs are unleashed in the United States market, but her most heartrending education into the dangers of antidepressants would come as a victim and ultimately, as a survivor.Rigorously researched and documented, Confessions of an Rx Drug Pusher is a moving human drama that shares one woman's unforgettable journey of faith, forgiveness, and healing.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Gwendolyn Leslie Olsen spent more than a decade as a sales rep in the pharmaceutical industry working for health care giants such as Johnson & Johnson, Bristol-Myers Squibb and Abbott Laboratories. She is a writer, speaker, and mental health activist who lives outside Austin, Texas.

Product Details

• Paperback: 176 pages
• Publisher: iUniverse (April 24, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1935278592
• ISBN-13: 978-1935278597
• Product Dimensions: 6 x 9 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #125,382 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #42 in Books > Medical Books > Pharmacology > Pain Medicine

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

16 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A realistic and honest book about the dangers of prescribed medications, February 1, 2011

By 

Charlie - See all my reviews

This review is from: Confessions of an Rx Drug Pusher (Paperback)

Finally a very honest and genuine account of the reality of the drug industry. Gwen Olsen takes you through a personal journey of a pharma sales rep with glimpses into the harsh reality of how the pharmaceutical industry operates. In this account, Gwen courageously talks about the suicide of her niece and the effects that prescribed medication may have had on bringing about this tragedy.

Her work is scrupulously researched and very balanced as she tries to find answers to the events that led to the death of her young niece. At the same time she begins to question her work as a "drug salesman" and begins to question the ethos of the health care system. Could the same drugs that she had been selling be harmful to the brain chemistry of people, perhaps permanently? Olsen gives a balanced view of the factors that led to the violent suicide of this young soul. It is not an attack on the pharmaceutical industry, but an honest account by someone who is brave enough to have broken away from what was a lucrative career in order to find truth.

Having left pharmaceutical research myself, for reasons similar to what Olsen describes, I can relate very closely to what she says. Now, working in clinical practice, I see the devastating effects that prescribed medicines can cause. This is a book that I will be recommending to many patients that come through my door.

14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Life changing! Eye Opening!, August 29, 2010

By 

Jennifer Lutterbie (Ormond Beach, Florida United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Confessions of an Rx Drug Pusher (Paperback)

This honest account by Gwen Olsen brought hope and answers! The puzzling questions of what happens to people on these drugs, the effects and the hazards. I have recommended (and bought it) for several people and the opinion is this is a must read for anyone on or contemplating taking SSRIs, how big PHarma has hood winked the public, and the very real dangers of the anti-depressant world (why we are seeing violence and suicides escalating). I am so sorry for your loss and I thank you Gwen Olsen for your courage!

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Terrifying because it's true., July 26, 2011

By 

Larry J. Frieders (The Compounder) "thecompo... (Aurora, IL United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Confessions of an Rx Drug Pusher (Paperback)

I've been a pharmacist since 1971 and I vividly recall a conversation I once had with a drug salesman (called detail man at the time). He explained that his goal was to sell a certain number of dollars worth of one particular drug. He stated that he didn't care whether he sold one pill or a million, as long as the price worked out to his goal. That conversation has stuck with me for over two decades because it was at that moment that I first realized my perception of the drug companies was far different from what people in that industry believed.

Perhaps I was naive, but during pharmacy school and years of work at a large county hospital, I found that I actually believed my profession was honorable and that I was part of a giant team focused on helping people be healthy and get well when illness struck. This was surely the ideal in school, and I assumed things actually operated that way.

Gwen Olsen's book is exactly as the title says, a CONFESSION. She has done a clear, masterful job describing how she unwittingly lived through the horrors of a harmful, dysfunctional family and found herself enmeshed in an industry where she was expected to make sales at any cost. Concern for an ill person was not part of her work paradigm.

The author not only lived through the personal and business issues but exited from both, apparently still intact. After my first reading of "Confessions of an Rx Drug Pusher", I described it to friends as terrifying and almost sickening. That description remains valid. More important than the story is the reports of experience, learning, and growth that shaped this author into a perfect spokesperson for all of us who find ourselves in direct opposition to the antics of the drug companies. If I hadn't had direct experience with the issues Olsen describes in her book, I might think she was engaged in fiction, not reporting fact. Sadly, she's right on track. Her tale is still terrifying, but you should read it - maybe more than once. You may begin to understand that it has never been the intent of any drug maker to improve health. Instead, their goal has always been to maximize profits at the expense of health.