Overdosed America; The broken promise of American medicine

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“Overdosed America reveals the greed and corruption that drive health care costs skyward and now threaten the public health. Before you see a doctor, you should read this book.” —Eric Schlosser, author of Fast Food Nation Using the examples of Vioxx, Celebrex, cholesterol-lowering statin drugs, and anti-depressants, Overdosed America shows that at the heart of the current crisis in American medicine lies the commercialization of medical knowledge itself For twenty years, John Abramson, M.D., cared for patients of all ages in a small town north of Boston. But increasingly his role as family doctor was undermined as pressure mounted to use the latest drugs and high-tech solutions for nearly every problem. Drawing on his background in statistics and health policy research, he began to investigate the radical changes that were quietly taking place in American medicine. At the heart of the crisis, he found, lies the changed purpose of medical knowledge—from seeking to optimize health to searching for the greatest profits. The lack of transparency that has become normal in commercially sponsored medical research now taints the scientific evidence published in even our most prestigious medical journals. And unlike the recent scandals in other industries that robbed Americans of money and jobs, this one is undermining our health. Commercial distortion pervades the information that doctors rely upon to guide the prevention and treatment of common health problems, from heart disease to stroke, osteoporosis, diabetes, and osteoarthritis. The good news, as Dr. Abramson explains, is that the real scientific evidence shows that many of the things that you can do to protect and preserve your own health are far more effective than what the drug companies' top-selling products can do for you—which is why the drug companies work so hard to keep this information under wraps. In what is sure to be one of the most important and eye-opening books you or your doctor will ever read, John Abramson offers conclusive evidence that American medicine has broken its promise to best improve our health and is squandering more than $500 billion each year in the process. Dedication Epigraph Contents Preface to the Paperback Edition Introduction Part I: A Family Doctor’S Journey of Discovery Chapter 1: Medicine in Transition: Caring for Patients at the Crossroads Chapter 2: Spinning the Evidence: Even the Most Respected Medical Journals Are Not Immune Chapter 3: False and Misleading: The Misrepresentation of Celebrex and Vioxx Chapter 4: The Myth of Excellence Chapter 5: A Case in Point: The Saga of Hormone Replacement Therapy Part II: The Commercialization of American Medicine Chapter 6: American Medicine’s Perfect Storm: A Brief History Chapter 7: The Commercial Takeover of Medical Knowledge Chapter 8: The Snake and the Staff: Duping the Doctors Chapter 9: A Smoking Gun: The 2001 Cholesterol Guidelines Chapter 10: Direct-to-Consumer: Advertising, Public Relations, and the Medical News Chapter 11: Follow the Money: Supply-Side Medical Care Part III: Taking Back our Health Chapter 12: The Knee in Room 8: Beyond the Limits of Biomedicine Chapter 13: From Osteoporosis to Heart Disease: What the Research Really Shows About Staying Healthy Chapter 14: Healing Our Ailing Health Care System, or How to Save $500 Billion a Year While Improving Americans’ Health Bibliography Index Acknowledgments P.S. About the Author About the Book Read On Notes Praise Copyright About the Publisher