An incredibly insightful work on the trillion-dollar scheme and such an important and pivotal branch of science: pharmacology, especially its account in the United States, where it is exploited, corrupted, and morphed to a population control tool at its worst!
This is such an important topic, where unique scientific discoveries for the good of the human population are morphed into the unrecognizable tool of control, disgusting population manipulation tool.
The use of drugs and medicine is so much included and considered normal, that people without thinking take pills, on top of pills, to minimize the negative of another pill and so on in an unending cycle...
Governments are informal beneficiaries of populations hooked on drugs, both financially and more psychologically and mentally...
Do yourself a favor, read the book and afterward decide for yourself whether such a scheme-like use of medicine, its exploitation, and corruption is acceptable for you and your family and how to recognize when it is really needed and when it is used simply against us.

Wow. This book blew my mind a little bit. In full disclosure, I have worked within the pharmaceutical industry for almost my entire career. I am very familiar with all of the companies mentioned in this book, at least in their modern forms. Posner's attention to detail on multiple pharmaceutical company's histories was fascinating for me. The Sackler family had more impact on my industry than I ever knew, and it was fascinating to understand that direct-to-consumer advertising was the brainchild of a handful of people in mid-century New York City. The discussion of the opioid epidemic was particularly hard for me to read, but necessary to read.

This is a long, dense book with multiple footnotes, but I like a good deep dive into a topic. I recommended this book to some of my co-workers to ensure we understand all the sides of our industry.

This book is the definitive guide on the rise of big Pharma. It starts with snake oil salesmen, to the rise of the need of penicilian, it then goes decade by decade highlighting the major/important drug discoveries.
The book highlights antibiotics, the pill, Valium, betadine, biologics, and Oxycodone.
It focuses upon the Sackler family, specifically Arthur Sackler, not because of the Oxycodone business but because he had his hand in EVERYTHING related to the pharmaceutical business.
The book read like a soap opera that left me turning the pages as quickly as I could read them.
I was fascinated with the advertising that Sackler came up, the journals, the free pills, everything that Arthur Sackler did, he did it with as many companies and subterfuges as possible.
The book ends with the lawsuits against Oxycodone and it leaves the reader pissed that the FDA, DEA, and the US government did not do more to stem the Oxycodone crisis and have not done anything about the rising costs of drug prices.
It is well researched, well written, and provides a balanced accounting of the pharmaceutical industry.
A great read.