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| The $800 Million Pill: The Truth behind the Cost of New Drugs
ISBN: 9780520939288
Platform/Publisher: JSTOR / University of California Press
Digital rights: Users: unlimited; Printing: chapter; Download: chapter
Subjects: Prescription pricing; Drugs -- Prices; Pharmaceutical industry; Consumer education;
In this fascinating critical look at drug and biotech companies, Goozner pulls back the curtain on the process of new drug development and answers two important questions: "where do new drugs come from?" and "what do they cost to invent?" Using case studies that recount the discovery, development and eventual commercialization of a number of significant drugs, including Epogen and the AIDS cocktail, Goozner dismantles the pharmaceutical industry's assertion that drug prices must be kept high in order to stimulate cutting edge research. The cost of each new discovery averages $800 million, industry officials have claimed. But Goozner argues that citizens are already paying much of that bill: taxpayer-financed medical research, he finds, has played a major role in each important medical discovery. Goozner convincingly argues that new drugs get into the hands of the sick not thanks to drug and biotech companies, but to the passion of dedicated scientists-in both the private sector and the public. A former Chief Economics Correspondent for the Chicago Tribune and an award-winning journalist, Goozer writes with skill and elegance, incorporating anecdote and history in a way that enlivens his research and makes his book an engrossing read. Though the issue of drug costs has been discussed extensively in the media, Goozer's study puts all the political chatter, news coverage and analysts' reports into a context where they finally make sense. (Apr.) Copyright 2004 Reed Business Information.
Goozner Merrill :
Merrill Goozner is former Chief Economics Correspondent at the Chicago Tribune. Winner of six Peter Lisagor Awards, Goozner is a contributing editor for The American Prospect. His work has also appeared in the New York Times, Washington Post, Boston Magazine, Columbia Journalism Review, Washington Monthly, Fortune Small Business, Slate.com, and Salon.com, among other publications. |
