About the Author

Melody Petersen wrote about the pharmaceutical industry for four years as a reporter for The New York Times. She lives with her husband in Los Angeles.

Reviews

"Tough, cogent, and disturbing enough to have a serious impact . . . [A] chilling investigation." --The New York Times "Petersen draws on her years as a crackerjack business reporter at The New York Times, where her enterprising stories were eagerly awaited by those who follow the drug makers. . . . A fascinating introduction to one of the most powerful industries of our time." --The Washington Post "Compelling . . . full of . . . eye-opening stories." --BusinessWeek "Sobering, scrupulously researched . . . We have no choice but to take careful heed." --The Boston Globe

Justifying her sensationalist title with thorough documentation, award-winning business journalist Petersen, who spent four years covering the pharmaceutical beat for the New York Times, presents a truly disturbing book. Focusing on events within her home state of Iowa, Petersen describes the out-of-control trajectory of America's most powerful industry as it co-opts physicians with swag, subverts peer review and continuing education, turns cash-strapped university medical schools into corporate tools, and drains public coffers to pay exploding Medicaid-funded prescription costs. As a result, U.S. citizens face astronomical health-care and insurance bills, more than 100,000 deaths annually attributable to prescription drugs "taken as directed," and shortened life expectancies. As Greg Critser did in Generation Rx: How Prescription Drugs Are Altering American Lives, Minds, and Bodies, Petersen takes readers beyond glossy advertising and celebrity endorsements to glimpse the alarming dark side of the American pharmaceutical industry. If it cannot be found in doctors' offices beside old copies of Golf magazine, this work should certainly be available in all libraries. [See Prepub Alert, LJ 11/15/07.]-Kathy Arsenault, Univ. of South Florida Lib., St. Petersburg Copyright 2008 Reed Business Information.

"Tough, cogent, and disturbing enough to have a serious impact . . . [A] chilling investigation." --The New York Times "Petersen draws on her years as a crackerjack business reporter at The New York Times, where her enterprising stories were eagerly awaited by those who follow the drug makers. . . . A fascinating introduction to one of the most powerful industries of our time." --The Washington Post "Compelling . . . full of . . . eye-opening stories." --BusinessWeek "Sobering, scrupulously researched . . . We have no choice but to take careful heed." --The Boston Globe