Overdosed America : The Broken Promise of American Medicine

Rating:
Summary: Don't give up on medicine
Review:
Virtually every study published about adherence and the cost of medicines vs. doctors and hospitals show that life is improved and money is saved by intervening with appropriate care (often medicines) early.

I felt sick reading this book. I felt like the author would assume I'd go for medicine given the "illness" I caught from reading. Basically, it's this kind of dramatic sexy title book that gets the masses pumped about a problem that does not exist.

Why not focus on uninsured Americans - a study showed they have 6 times greater chance of death over a one year period.


Rating:
Summary: Critical information for America's Health
Review: As a physician who has practiced Emergency Medicine since 1981 I applaud Dr Abramson's work. Physicians and patients are now used to the direct marketing of drugs, and may be aware how manipulative and misleading that marketing is. The fact that billions are spent annually on the promotion of the "product" which drugs have become, rather than on research and education, is scandal enough. That scandal, while damaging to the health of the nation, is nonetheless obvious and in plain sight. What is astonishingly worse, however, is that the fundamental research which physicians depend on to form rational judgements has been perhaps fatally compromised. Drug companies have taken over the control and dissemination of research, and even our most august medical journals have been compromised by the drug companies' billions. As a physician I am in the position now of having doubts about the credibility of even what appears in The New England Journal of Medicine, which is, as all physicians know, an extremely sad state of affairs. Without credible information, and with the barrage of direct marketing to patients, we are no longer practicing science but PR with out patients, and we will all suffer. This book is very strong start in getting us out of this morass.

Rating:
Summary: Sound Research
Review: Dr Abramson has really done an outstanding job of researching the details behind drug studies. He definetly creates a great point in that Pharmaceutical companies need to have the "bar raised" when it comes to doing their research. I don't feel that Pharmaceutical firms are "evil" by any means, but if the system we have allows studies to be published that aren't based on strong statistical science, then they will take the path of least resistance. Its no different than if we allowed students taking the SAT to self-grade their own tests. I bet the average SAT score would go up a few hundred points. When the "experts in the industry" are somehow financially related to the companies they are evaluating products for, even the most honest person would carry a bias, they are financially and emotionally tied.
I think the "ease of medical publication" and the "frequency of publication" makes it extremely easy for misinformation to be generated, how can doctors be expected to know which drug to prescribe when there are 27,000 pages of published drug studies to sift through each year generated by competing drug firms?
Once again, freedom of speech protects these companies for being held accountable for published studies with little or no-statistics to back it up.
We as a country allow the media to become our "cliff notes" version of "what's happening", and similarly, we've allowed the drug industry to become the "cliff notes" to the doctors and consumers.
Dr Abramson is only one man and he's uncovered $500 Billion/year in waste in our healthcare industry. Do we have the courage to do more to control misinformation without lawyers? I know one occupation that is reading this book with a big smile and is alreadying targeting lawsuits.

Rating:
Summary: must read. Your health depends on it.
Review: Dr. Abramson deserves a medal. If you trake any kind of prescription drug this is the book you must read. I was pretty cynical about the American drug industry but I had no idea how bad things have become. Even doctors today, as the book shows, can't get good information on drugs.
An enormous amount of money is involved, billions not millions of dollars. Your only recouse is knowledge, because our government will not protect us.
Dr. Abramson has written an explosive book. He shows how university research institutes and "peer review" experts have been corrupted and how the drug industry has degenerated into hucksterism. Do you remember three years ago how a "distinguished" panel of experts recommended that statin use in America triple? Well, Dr. Abramson read that research, followed all the footnotes, and found that the data in this 284-page report totally contradicted the summary which the media used and which doctors read. Unbelievable? If you have high cholestorol you must read this chapter.
Presciently, Dr. Abramson also has a chapter on Vioxx and Celebrex, written before things hit the fan for Merck and it was forced to recall Vioxx. But read the chapter on how this drug made it to market, read how even editors of medical journals were bamboozled.
The USA spends nearly three times more per capita on health care, compared to other industrialized societies, and is near the bottom in healthiness. Read the book for the details and how you can significantly improve your health. So be careful. It's a jungle out there, and you won't get much help from our government. Get informed. Your health depends on it. Thank you Dr. Abramson.


Rating:
Summary: An Attack on Drug Companies
Review: Drugs are one of our nations big problems. In this book Dr. Abramson talks not about those that you buy on the street corner but those that you buy at the drug store. His primary message is that the for profit drug companies are primarily concerned with making a profit to the neglect if not the outright damage to the public at large.

This book should be of particular concern to those people:

Taking hormone replacement drugs,
with heart disease or stroke,
osteoporosis
diabetes, and
osteoarthritis.

The good news, he explains, is that the real scientific evidence shows that many of the things that you can do to protect and preserve your own health are far more effective than what the drug companies products can do for you. Unfortunately this means things like exercise, lose weight, stop smoking - things that are harder to do than simply taking a pill. See more at overdosedamerica.com.

An unintended side effect: It made me wonder if it is time to buy drug company stock.


Rating:
Summary: The strange case of the book reviewers
Review: I saw the author discuss his book on Book TV and was impressed. (I seldom am by anybody, MDs included.) I think the situation in medicine is a microcosm of the overall psychopathological culture in which we live (e.g., criminality all over, from government to judges to sports figures to Enron to...; total discregard of the environment; rampant violence; arrogant bullying and invading a small country, with nonsensical rationale--see my 1991 book on substance abuse).

What is fascinating to me is the polarization of the reviewers on this web site--isn't it interesting how some people think the book is excellent, while others seem to miss the point and just defend the medical-pharmacological-insurance complex?

Rating:
Summary: Is John Abramson Psychic?
Review: In the news this morning (November 20, 2004): The Associated Press reports that shares in pharmaceutical giants AstraZeneca PLC and GlaxoSmithKline PLC dropped after safety concerns over the anti-cholesterol drug, Crestor, and asthma drug, Serevent, were raised. For those who have read Dr. Abramson's book, Overdosed in America, safety concerns with Crestor will come as no surprise.

Dr. Abramson has done a more than credible job of researching the current state of medical care in the United States (taking three years away from his private practice to do so). Examining the links between emphasis on lowering cholesterol and drug company profits is just one area of current American medical care he tackles.

There are those who will argue that his common-sense approach to reducing health care costs while, at the same time, increasing American health, is too simple to be worthwhile. However, Dr. Abramson's recommendations are based on solid research findings. Sometimes, answers can be simple.

Overdosed America is an important book backed up by Dr. Abramson's painstaking research. Read it to save your wealth. Read it to save your health.

December Update:

I am astonished to see such highly negative reviews of Overdosed America. Are these the same folk who would never buy an automobile or vacuum without checking Consumers' ratings?

Surely, they have failed to read the book carefully or they could not suggest that much valuable research will be lost if we become actively involved in our own medicine and related pharmaceuticals instead of passive consumers of whatever latest pill that's being pushed.

Surely, they have failed to read carefully if they believe that the studies "proving" the safety of pharmaceutical are always fully and accurately reported.

My only beef with Dr. Abramson is that he is, in my opinion, far too lenient on doctors. While I realize that they are already overworked, I think that prescribing pharmaceuticals about which they know only what is given them by drug company representatives is reprehensible. We all have our part to play to keep medical costs and medical errors under control. To my mind the responsbility falls on doctors just as much as consumers.

Nonetheless, this book is far more than a sensationalism of the problems with current pharmaceuticals. The information it contains could save a life - your life or someone you love!


Rating:
Summary: Not worth the time
Review: Just another typical liberal bias against the pharmaceutical industry. It's ironic that people always want new, innovative medicine, but have no interest in paying the research and development of those drugs. Are drug costs high, probably, but those costs pay for research that will benefit future generations. If people want to complain, complain about anti-development, industry destroying price controls in Europe and Canada.

Rating:
Summary: The Real Story About American Healthcare
Review: Now I understand why my doctors keep prescribing so many expensive new drugs, like Vioxx, Celebrex, and cholesterol lowering statins. We want to believe that doctors have the right information--this book explains how medical research has been taken over by the drug companies with the goal of selling more drugs, not necessarily improving our health. It shows how doctors can no more avoid the pro-drug bias in their medical journals and continuing education courses than the public can avoid all the drug advertising. And it shows how the majority of the experts who write the clinical guidelines that define good care (and that doctors follow to avoid getting sued) have financial ties to the drug companies, too.



The chapter that presents the real scientific evidence about preventing osteoporosis, heart disease, stroke and diabetes provides particularly useful information about staying healthy. Overdosed America explains in clear language how the whole "system" works. It holds no punches.



I gave a copy to my doctor so that we can discuss these issues together. It is a total must read.

Rating:
Summary: Very Vital Life Saving Information - Should Be Ten Stars
Review: This book was written before the Vioxx collaspe. Tells the story behind drugs like Vioxx. It is very sad. Drugs are marketed and promoted by drug companies for big money more so than they are marketed to help the public. Public service should come first and the big money second. However, it is all in reverse with the big money coming first and the public service coming second.

Always pay close attention to the side effects with drugs. Sometimes the side effects will make a drug not worth the investment in money, time and health risk to the consumer.

Dr. Abramson, the author, did painstaking research on this book. The USA spends nearly three times more money per capita on health care, compared to other advanced countries, but is near the bottom in the quality of healthcare received by its citizens. This book is explosive and a must read by all. There is no simple pill-popping way to achieve good health. Get informed on the things that you can really do to achieve good health such as diet, exercise and stress modifications.