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Bitter Pills: Inside the Hazardous World of Legal Drugs
We take our medicines on faith. We assume our doctors are well-informed, our drug companies scrupulous, our FDA diligent—and our medications safe. All too often we're wrong. Just how wrong is documented in this critically acclaimed portrait of the international pharmaceutical industry by one of our most highly respected investigative journalists.
According to the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA), adverse drug reactions are the fourth leading cause of death in America. Reactions to prescription and over-the-counter medications kill far more people annually than all illegal drug use combined.
Stephen Fried's wife took a pill for a minor infection—and ended up in the emergency room. Some drug reactions go away in a few hours or days. Diane's did not. This emotionally wrenching experience launched Fried into a five-year examination of the entire pharmaceutical industry, the most profitable legal business in the world. Rigorously documented, Bitter Pills is a full-scale portrait of pill making and pill taking in America today, presented through the powerful human drama of doctors, patients, drug companies, the FDA, and government regulators as they war for control of our medicine cabinets.
According to the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA), adverse drug reactions are the fourth leading cause of death in America. Reactions to prescription and over-the-counter medications kill far more people annually than all illegal drug use combined.
Stephen Fried's wife took a pill for a minor infection—and ended up in the emergency room. Some drug reactions go away in a few hours or days. Diane's did not. This emotionally wrenching experience launched Fried into a five-year examination of the entire pharmaceutical industry, the most profitable legal business in the world. Rigorously documented, Bitter Pills is a full-scale portrait of pill making and pill taking in America today, presented through the powerful human drama of doctors, patients, drug companies, the FDA, and government regulators as they war for control of our medicine cabinets.
448 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1998
6 people are currently reading
113 people want to read
About the author
Stephen Fried
22 books86 followersStephen Fried is an award-winning journalist and New York Times bestselling author who teaches at Columbia University and the University of Pennsylvania.
His latest books are RUSH: Revolution, Madness and Benjamin Rush, the Visionary Doctor Who Became a Founding Father (Crown) and Profiles in Mental Health Courage (Dutton) by Patrick Kennedy & Stephen Fried.
He has written six other acclaimed nonfiction books, including the biographies Appetite for America: Fred Harvey and the Business of Civilizing the Wild West—One Meal at a Time and Thing of Beauty: The Tragedy of Supermodel Gia; and the mental health memoir A Common Struggle, co-authored with Congressman Patrick Kennedy. Fried also wrote the investigative books Bitter Pills: Inside the Hazardous World of Legal Drugs and The New Rabbi, as well as a collection of essays on marriage, Husbandry.
A two-time winner of the National Magazine Award, he has written frequently for Vanity Fair, GQ, The Washington Post Magazine, Smithsonian, Rolling Stone, Glamour, and Philadelphia Magazine.
Fried lectures widely on the subjects of his books and magazine articles, and does editorial consulting. He lives in Philadelphia with his wife, author Diane Ayres.
FB author page: https://www.facebook.com/Stephen-Frie...
His latest books are RUSH: Revolution, Madness and Benjamin Rush, the Visionary Doctor Who Became a Founding Father (Crown) and Profiles in Mental Health Courage (Dutton) by Patrick Kennedy & Stephen Fried.
He has written six other acclaimed nonfiction books, including the biographies Appetite for America: Fred Harvey and the Business of Civilizing the Wild West—One Meal at a Time and Thing of Beauty: The Tragedy of Supermodel Gia; and the mental health memoir A Common Struggle, co-authored with Congressman Patrick Kennedy. Fried also wrote the investigative books Bitter Pills: Inside the Hazardous World of Legal Drugs and The New Rabbi, as well as a collection of essays on marriage, Husbandry.
A two-time winner of the National Magazine Award, he has written frequently for Vanity Fair, GQ, The Washington Post Magazine, Smithsonian, Rolling Stone, Glamour, and Philadelphia Magazine.
Fried lectures widely on the subjects of his books and magazine articles, and does editorial consulting. He lives in Philadelphia with his wife, author Diane Ayres.
FB author page: https://www.facebook.com/Stephen-Frie...
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
September 10, 2013
I really enjoyed this book and though some parts of it are a bit dated, I think on the whole it is still a fairly accurate overview of a lot of the problems in the pharmaceutical industry. I am a pharmacist by profession, and I wish that everyone thought this much about their drugs and their effects. I wish I had time to sit down with patients and discuss the different issues that this book raises.
March 21, 2020
Boring
That's the best way j have to describe this book. Outdated and extremely boring. O couldn't finish it, I got halfway and completely lost interest in it.
Despite the interesting topic the author makes it a really heavy book, so unless you are here exactly for the info that this book gives (the biopharma landscape of the 90s) you'll be let down like me
That's the best way j have to describe this book. Outdated and extremely boring. O couldn't finish it, I got halfway and completely lost interest in it.
Despite the interesting topic the author makes it a really heavy book, so unless you are here exactly for the info that this book gives (the biopharma landscape of the 90s) you'll be let down like me
September 13, 2013
this investigative reporter goes into the world of pharmaceutical sales/research/testing after his wife has a serious adverse reaction to an antibiotic. Very well researched, great insight into the billion dollar industry.
April 5, 2008
Life-changing
October 16, 2008
Everyone should read this book.
Read
February 6, 2012started the book with a frightened heart but once i finished it , i can say that i am a wiser person who can choose from the jungle of counter drugs....
November 25, 2014
GREAT book! Written in the late 90's, but amazingly little has changed. Still relevant today. Wish I had written it!
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews