Where Pharma Went Wrong

Award-winning investigative journalist and New York Times–bestselling author Gerald Posner is telling the wild, true, and urgent story behind America’s now trillion-dollar-a-year pharmaceutical industry. In Pharma, Posner begins with the Sacklers: Before they became the family driving the rise of Oxycontin, they orchestrated the birth of medical advertising and all the monetization that came after it. Moving forward in time, Posner tells us how menopause became medicalized for profit in the ’70s—with devastating health consequences for women. And in the present day, Posner reveals the underbelly of health care, including the ways bribery can interfere with patient care. It’s not all doom and gloom, though: Heroes emerge, and Posner reveals that even dark, complex figures like Arthur Sackler did some good. And after all he’s learned, Posner is able to look at the scope of our current health care and offer solutions for a better future.