The unhealthy ties that bind FDA to drug firms

A new book out discussing the drug business in the US, Money Talks. Side Effects which was also written by Bass looks at the day to day life of a pharmaceutical sales representative. Public Health or profit seems to be the theme and what the investigations uncover. Big Pharma is much more under the magnifying glass today than it ever has been. One thing for sure there’s a lot more information to scrutinize and in today’s world of transparency, it appears to all eventually come out in the wash as recent pharma stories have reported and the FDA is in the process of getting caught up so they too can have better reporting and research information. Big Pharma has long been one of the leaders in capitalizing on technology and perhaps when everyone is up to the same speed, the results we see in the future may take on a whole new appearance as well as detailed and factually verified information. The two entities indeed need to work together to benefit all. BD

In her new book Alison Bass obeys the most important rule of investigative journalism: She follows the money wherever it leads. In "Side Effects," her examination of mammoth pharmaceutical companies and their pursuit of profits at any cost, she exposes the dark web of researchers, doctors, and regulators feeding at the Big Pharma trough and undermining public health in the process. The term for what Bass discovers is "systematic funding bias.