The truth about drug companies

In her book, "The Truth About the Drug Companies," Marcia Angell exposes drug companies, especially the largest ones, "big pharma," as huge “marketing machines” concerned more with profits than the effects of the medication they produce. Some of her findings truly shocked me, however, more often than not, I was not surprised. For example, one point that I found particularly upsetting was in chapter 2, “The Creation of a New Drug.” When she is describing the process of how a new drug is created, she points out that in the clinical trail stage, once the drug is in the hands of big pharma, many companies will offer monetary incentives to doctors for each person they refer to the trials. Doctors could make up to $30,000 just for one patient. I fully agree with her thoughts on the dangers of this practice. She points out that a doctor will be more inclined to “enroll patients who are not really eligible” into the trials. Not only does this put the patient in serious harms way, but, as Angell explains in chapter 6, bias the results of the trials. This is only one way in which the Angell shows that the pharmaceutical companies are more concerned with their profits then the effects of the drugs they put on the market. I feel that this is definitely a reflection on not only the pharmaceutical companies, but health care in our society as a whole. If a doctor is willing to take thousands of dollars, and potentially put a patient at serious risk, how is that any different from pharmaceutical companies rigging trials to work out in their favor? I agree with Angell when she says that serious reform is needed in many areas of this industry to ensure that Americans get the drugs they need in a fair and cost efficient manner.