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Side Effects: Death. Confessions of a Pharma-Insider
"I bribed a Swedish professor to enhance the registration of Prozac in Sweden." -John Virapen Pharmaceutical companies want to keep people sick. They want to make others think that they are sick. And they do this for one reason: money. Did you know: * Pharmaceutical companies invest more than 35,000 Euro (over $50,000) per physician each year to get them to prescribe their products? * More than 75 percent of leading scientists in the field of medicine are "paid for" by the pharmaceutical industry? * Corruption prevailed in the approval and marketing of drugs in some cases? * Illnesses are made up by the pharmaceutical industry and specifically marketed to enhance sales and market shares for the companies in question? * Pharmaceutical companies increasingly target children? "Side Effects: Death" is the true story of corruption, bribery and fraud written by Dr. John Virapen, who has been called THE Big Pharma Insider. During his 35 years in the pharmaceutical industry internationally (most notably as general manager of Eli Lilly and Company in Sweden), Virapen was responsible for the marketing of several drugs, all of them with side effects. Now, Virapen is coming clean and telling all of the little secrets you were never intended to know! For more information, go to www.sideeffectsdeath.com
252 pages, Paperback
First published February 1, 2010
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Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews
November 23, 2021
Eddig sem voltam az a minden miatt gyógyszer után kapkodó, de ettől a hideg ráz… különösen a manapság, a világban zajló dolgok fényében. :(
May 10, 2010
This book, written by a pharmaceutical industry insider, exposes many of the secrets that led to drugs with major side effects, like Prozac, to be approved and widely prescribed.
Born in Guyana (northeast South America) to Indian parents, Virapen found himself, in the 1960s, in Europe, hungry and homeless. He went to Sweden, to live with a woman he met in his travels. It was there that he got a job as a sales representative for Eli Lilly and Co. He visited local physicians, bringing them small gifts and other things and generally encouraging them to prescribe Eli Lilly drugs. He rose quickly through the ranks, eventually running the entire operation in Sweden. Virapen was very involved in getting drugs like Prozac approved, with a corresponding rise in the gifts given to doctors. They now ranged from expensive "scientific conferences" in exotic places to brothel visits, to outright bribery. This book is an attempt to atone for what he has done in the drug industry.
Virapen spends much of the book talking about Prozac. The drug industry has no problems with creating "diseases" like ADD (Attention Deficit Disorder), to get otherwise healthy people to think that they are sick, and need a pill (an expensive pill, of course). If a clinical trial is not going well; for instance, if Drug X works just as well as Prozac, a drug company can stop the trial, and switch Drug X with another drug against which Prozac works really well. There is no obligation to tell the Food and Drug Administration, or any of its foreign counterparts, about this. Clinical trials on psychotropic drugs, like Prozac, last a couple of months, at the most. There has been no attempt to study the effects of such drugs over years.
When it came time to get Prozac approved in Sweden, the information supplied by Eli Lilly was to be evaluated by an independent doctor, who would send his recommendation to the national authorities. Virapen’s job was to figure out who that doctor would be and find out what it would take to get that doctor to give a favorable opinion. Unfortunately, that doctor was very willing to be bribed, even helping Eli Lilly to write the report the "right" way. Virapen mentions case after case of normal, well-adjusted people who, after taking Prozac for a very short time, kill other people or themselves.
On the positive side, this is a very interesting book that shows the lengths to which drug companies will go to create new markets for their drugs. On the negative side, if there are to be future printings of this book, it really needs a trip, or another trip, to a copyeditor or proofreader.
Born in Guyana (northeast South America) to Indian parents, Virapen found himself, in the 1960s, in Europe, hungry and homeless. He went to Sweden, to live with a woman he met in his travels. It was there that he got a job as a sales representative for Eli Lilly and Co. He visited local physicians, bringing them small gifts and other things and generally encouraging them to prescribe Eli Lilly drugs. He rose quickly through the ranks, eventually running the entire operation in Sweden. Virapen was very involved in getting drugs like Prozac approved, with a corresponding rise in the gifts given to doctors. They now ranged from expensive "scientific conferences" in exotic places to brothel visits, to outright bribery. This book is an attempt to atone for what he has done in the drug industry.
Virapen spends much of the book talking about Prozac. The drug industry has no problems with creating "diseases" like ADD (Attention Deficit Disorder), to get otherwise healthy people to think that they are sick, and need a pill (an expensive pill, of course). If a clinical trial is not going well; for instance, if Drug X works just as well as Prozac, a drug company can stop the trial, and switch Drug X with another drug against which Prozac works really well. There is no obligation to tell the Food and Drug Administration, or any of its foreign counterparts, about this. Clinical trials on psychotropic drugs, like Prozac, last a couple of months, at the most. There has been no attempt to study the effects of such drugs over years.
When it came time to get Prozac approved in Sweden, the information supplied by Eli Lilly was to be evaluated by an independent doctor, who would send his recommendation to the national authorities. Virapen’s job was to figure out who that doctor would be and find out what it would take to get that doctor to give a favorable opinion. Unfortunately, that doctor was very willing to be bribed, even helping Eli Lilly to write the report the "right" way. Virapen mentions case after case of normal, well-adjusted people who, after taking Prozac for a very short time, kill other people or themselves.
On the positive side, this is a very interesting book that shows the lengths to which drug companies will go to create new markets for their drugs. On the negative side, if there are to be future printings of this book, it really needs a trip, or another trip, to a copyeditor or proofreader.
September 19, 2016
Grāmata uzrakstīta interesanti un provokatīvi. Bet visu laiku nepameta doma, ka to raksta cilvēks, kurš visu savu mūžu ir nodarbojies ar apzinātu cilvēku krāpšanu un kukuļošanu. Un par to ir saņēmis lielu naudu. Cilvēks, kurš šo grāmatu sarakstījis pēc tam, kad pats no šīs farmācijas firmas, pret kuru vēršas, ticis negaidīti atlaists. Turklāt, šī grāmata amazon.com maksā sākot no 95 dolāriem (ja nav iebildumu lasīt jau lietotu). Šeit daļēji, manuprāt, ož pēc kārtējās izdevības Virapena kungam nopelnīt. Viņu nedaudz glābj tas, ka viņš ir studējis medicīnu. Savā ziņā savējais.
No vienas puses, viņa aprakstītās problēmas tiešām pastāv un to droši vien es izjutīšu vairāk tad, kad pati uzsākšu savu ārsta praksi (jo pacients no manis nesanāk īpaši apzinīgs). No otras puses, kā viņš iedomājas, ka šīs problēmas ir risināmas? Lai tās novērstu, pārāk daudziem cilvēkiem ir jābūt godīgiem un neuzpērkamiem. Un tas jau utopiski un naivi.
Lai neteiktu ko vairāk, manuprāt, šī grāmata jāizlasa katram medicīnas studentam, lai sevī iekšēji kaut nedaudz izlemtu savu nostāju pret medikamentu nepamatotu izrakstīšanu vai farmācijas firmu draudzīgumu.
Turklāt, šī grāmata noteikti sajūsminās visas EKO un antivakcinēšanās māmiņas. Vēl viens iemesls ik pēc katras rindkopas kliegt, ka tas viss ir tikai bizness!
No vienas puses, viņa aprakstītās problēmas tiešām pastāv un to droši vien es izjutīšu vairāk tad, kad pati uzsākšu savu ārsta praksi (jo pacients no manis nesanāk īpaši apzinīgs). No otras puses, kā viņš iedomājas, ka šīs problēmas ir risināmas? Lai tās novērstu, pārāk daudziem cilvēkiem ir jābūt godīgiem un neuzpērkamiem. Un tas jau utopiski un naivi.
Lai neteiktu ko vairāk, manuprāt, šī grāmata jāizlasa katram medicīnas studentam, lai sevī iekšēji kaut nedaudz izlemtu savu nostāju pret medikamentu nepamatotu izrakstīšanu vai farmācijas firmu draudzīgumu.
Turklāt, šī grāmata noteikti sajūsminās visas EKO un antivakcinēšanās māmiņas. Vēl viens iemesls ik pēc katras rindkopas kliegt, ka tas viss ir tikai bizness!
May 21, 2012
Terrifying book, one that makes man wonder when is enough money truly enough. Some of the elements laid out by the author are truly terrifying - way everything is done to achieve the goal of hoarding money on expense of patients worldwide.
I guess there will be critics of this books saying that things are exaggerated etc - but believe me, if only two percent of all the things author wrote in this book is true then it is extremely dangerous situation out there.
I guess there will be critics of this books saying that things are exaggerated etc - but believe me, if only two percent of all the things author wrote in this book is true then it is extremely dangerous situation out there.
August 25, 2017
Puiki knyga atvirai apie farmaciją, geriausia skaityti tiems kas domisi sveika mityba arba tiems, kas galvoja, kad vaistai tikrai gydo....
February 13, 2023
Interesanti par antidepresantiem, kas nevis ārstē depresiju, bet tieši to izraisa-pat līdz pašnāvībām. Un kā izrādās, neskatoties uz to, tiek izplatīti vēl joprojām, tostarp LV. Un bērniem tika izdomāta slimība- uzmanības deficīta sindroms, lai varētu vēl vairāk pelnīt. Mūsdienās zāles tiek pārdotas problēmām, kam nav nekāda sakara ar medicīnu.
May 27, 2020
If you have any trust left in Big Pharma, or think that depression is a matter of "chemical imbalance" which is fixed by the likes of SSRIs, I'd like to point you to this book.
December 29, 2022
If you wanna learn how the Pharmaceutics industry works, this confession of ex president I really recommend to read...
November 19, 2014
Yes, this book will make people pay more attention to corruption in pharmacy/medicine field and find more information before taking next drug, BUT it is written unprofessionally and sometimes in very annoying way.
I, as a person, who studies and works in this field, felt offended. Although author mentions that it does not apply to all people in this field but it felt that way. And it seemed that the general reason for writing this book was to get revenge to company who fired him.
There were mentioned few very interesting facts and few questionable facts, both I will research further (and maybe I will even update my review).
Overall:
I would say it's worth reading this or any other book which touches this subject.
I, as a person, who studies and works in this field, felt offended. Although author mentions that it does not apply to all people in this field but it felt that way. And it seemed that the general reason for writing this book was to get revenge to company who fired him.
There were mentioned few very interesting facts and few questionable facts, both I will research further (and maybe I will even update my review).
Overall:
I would say it's worth reading this or any other book which touches this subject.
December 22, 2018
A book on bribery, inadequate trials, misleading publications and deaths being concealed in the pharmaceutical backstage.
John Virapen tells his story quite honestly and passionate. I wished, however, he'd made it more clear that it is permissive laws that allow the terrible stuff to happen. People are corruptible and there isn't much we can do about it.
Also, he made his point pretty early in the book, therefore the second half was a long soup.
Favorite quote: " I loved returning home more than being at home."
John Virapen tells his story quite honestly and passionate. I wished, however, he'd made it more clear that it is permissive laws that allow the terrible stuff to happen. People are corruptible and there isn't much we can do about it.
Also, he made his point pretty early in the book, therefore the second half was a long soup.
Favorite quote: " I loved returning home more than being at home."
July 29, 2016
This was an excellent book showing how corrupt the pharmaceutical industry is from someone on the inside. John did terrible things, the people he worked with did terrible things, and with this book he tries to right some of the wrongs he committed. He shows how bribery and research fraud are the mainstays of the pharmaceutical industry while the drugs they're promoting do nothing for the diseases and conditions they're marketed for.
September 1, 2015
Basically just WHAT??? You can sell a drug which has literally NO positive effect and people commit suicide because of it? I don't want to live on this planet anymore.
April 20, 2016
Everyone should read a book which talks about this subject. This book contains substantiated facts but the writing style can be annoying sometimes.
April 12, 2012
Shocking. I'll look now more careful at what doctors prescribe to me and my family.
January 3, 2013
It is a must read!!!! We all need to be informed!
Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews