The Truth About the Pharmaceutical Industry

Author: (American) Marcia Angell, translated by Xu Qin
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2006-05-01
Features: The continuous rise in drug prices, the pervasive pharmaceutical advertising, and the constant introduction of new drugs—what secrets lie behind these phenomena? Dr. Angell reveals the astonishing inner workings of the global pharmaceutical industry dominated by Western pharmaceutical giants in the book. She points out that this highly profitable industry is built on the fact that more and more patients cannot afford their medications, as pharmaceutical companies are transforming from institutions with the mission of "researching and producing useful drugs" into profit-driven marketing machines. The book holds significance for China. —"China Book News"
How a $200 billion industry deceived us. A bestseller that stunned North America upon its release by Random House in the United States. Previously, pharmaceutical companies marketed drugs to treat diseases. Now, the opposite is true. They promote diseases to sell their drugs. The combined profits of Cephalon, a Fortune 500 company (35.9 billion dollars), actually exceed the profits of the other 490 companies on the list (33.7 billion dollars). The industry claims to be highly innovative, but in reality, only a small fraction of newly launched drugs are truly innovative; the majority are merely old drugs given new names. Pharmaceutical companies largely ignore tropical diseases—such as malaria, African trypanosomiasis, or schistosomiasis—because the countries where these diseases are prevalent are too poor to afford the drugs. The global sales revenue of the top ten U.S. pharmaceutical companies on the Fortune 500 list amounts to $271 billion, yet they spend only about 14% on research and development, while their profits are 17%. More astonishingly, they allocate a staggering 31% of their sales revenue to marketing and management. Pharmaceutical companies exert significant influence over doctors' prescribing habits and the medications they prescribe. Many prescription drug studies sponsored by these companies are biased. The suffering caused by taking excessive medications for minor ailments, as well as the side effects and drug interactions, may be even worse than not taking any medication at all. The rise in drug prices, the overwhelming advertising campaigns, and the constant introduction of new drugs—all these surface-level phenomena hide a truly alarming secret. Dr. Marcia Angell worked at the New England Journal of Medicine for over two decades and is well-positioned to comment on the increasingly corrupt state of the pharmaceutical industry. In this book, she boldly and sharply exposes the astonishing inner workings of the global pharmaceutical industry dominated by Western giants and proposes numerous fundamental reform proposals. She witnessed how pharmaceutical companies gradually transformed from institutions with the mission of "researching and producing useful drugs" into massive marketing machines, exerting a profound influence on medical research, education, and doctors' practices. Based on her research and case studies, the book provides an in-depth analysis of an industry that has nearly spun out of control. It involves many familiar large Western pharmaceutical companies, including Pfizer, Johnson & Johnson, Merck, Novartis, Roche, and AstraZeneca. Due to the veil of secrecy surrounding the pharmaceutical industry, the book caused an immediate sensation upon its publication in North America and climbed the bestseller lists of The New York Times and major bookstores. Many of the facts and perspectives presented in the book are also valuable references and insights for Chinese readers.