Bad, Devalued, Distrusted & Defensive Pharma A Tale of Two Books
“It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity. . .”
You know the Tale of Two Cities. This article, however, tells the Tale of Two Books: Bad Pharma, a 430-page book by Ben Goldacre, a British physician, whose previous book, Bad Science, was a best seller in the “non-fiction” realm and the much smaller 123-page book Devalued and Distrusted by John L. LaMattina, former president of research and develop at Pfizer.
“In short,” said Dickens in his Tale, “the period was so far like the present period, that some of its noisiest authorities insisted on its being received, for good or for evil, in the superlative degree of comparison only.” That about sums up how I feel after reading these two books about the pharmaceutical industry. Both authors speak in “superlatives” and both are evangelists, encouraging their readers to take specific actions to remedy the evil or proselytize the good described in their respective books.
Topics include:
- Bad Pharma Marketing
- Marketing Spending vs R&D Spending by Pharma
- Cost of Samples and Cost of Detailing
- Goldacre’s Response to My Critique of His “Numbers Game”
- “It’s Not Quantity, It’s Quality,” Says Gary Monk
- Bad Pharma Research – a Review of the R&:D Section of Goldacre’s Book by Adam Jacobs, PhD, Director of Dianthus Medical Limited, and author of the Dianthus Medical blog
- Acknowledging the Good Stuff – Review of LaMattina’s Book
- “Drop TV Ads,” Says LaMattina
- Another Idea to Help Pharma’s Bad Rep: Pharma Should Step Up & Help Develop a Universal Flu Vaccine
- “Not Everyone Likes Us,” Says Derek Lowe. Get Over It!
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Is #pharma at Risk from The Clinical Trial Transparency Movement?
PMN121-02
Issue: Vol. 12, No. 1: January 2013
