Sickening, by Dr. Abramson ~ my review

 Remember how we all got whiplash these past two years when Covid maskers said, “Trust the science,” and then the anti-maskers said they were trusting the science? Not knowing which science to trust, we often found ourselves operating in the dark. Well, Dr. Abramson’s exposé of Big Pharma’s inner workings might pull back the medical fog-factor curtain a bit. Although the medicines whose research and marketing he details do not include Covid-related drugs, he does show how “science” often works and why often we can’t point to a definitive answer.

 

Through four case studies in his book, Sickening: How Big Pharma Broke American Health Care and How We Can Repair It, John Abramson, MD, MSc, shows how Big Pharma controls the medical research agenda. Often their goal is not optimizing health; it is maximizing profits. Profits even come before patient safety. In some cases, no one is asking the right questions—questions that would lead to improved health for the appropriate group of patients.

 

Furthermore, Dr. Abramson points out that at least for his four chosen examples, Vioxx, Neurontin, statins, and insulin, people tasked with educating physicians and prestigious medical journals are not given access to the real data from research trials. Unknowingly then, physicians relying on clueless peer reviewers prescribe medications based on incomplete and/or misleading information.

 

The decades-old adage, “Follow the money,” applies here. When scientists who stand to gain financially pay for, interpret, and market “the science,” they can be tempted to manipulate the science. To counter Big Pharma’s undue influence on American medical care, Dr. Abramson encourages grassroots activism. He calls for health-care reform with multiple goals.