Biox and Sickening - What's Your Story?

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Abramson: I was a family doc for 20 years, practiced in small town an hour north of Boston. In the 90s war on drugs, it was very clear to me that the medical journals were becoming increasingly influenced by the drug companies. And then the straw that broke the camel's back was Vioxx. Abramson: It was arthritis drug and arthritis and pain drug and anti inflammatory drug like Motrin or Naperson. No more effective than those over the counter remedies for pain.

Today on the podcast, Paul talks with John Abramson, American physician, lecturer at Harvard, and author of the books, Overdosed America: The Broken Promise of American Medicine and Sickening: How Big Pharma Broke American Health Care and How We Can Repair It. They have the important conversation about the problems with profit-driven pharmaceutical companies, conflicts of interest in the medical world, and how changing medical education and the system at large is integral for a patient-focused path forward.

A note from Paul: Throughout my training and practice as a physician I have come to one very disappointing conclusion: Western medicine isn’t helping people lead better lives. Now that I’ve realized this, I’ve become obsessed with understanding what makes us healthy or ill. I want to live the best life I can and I want to be able to share this knowledge with others so that they can do the same. This podcast is the result of my relentless search to understand the roots of chronic disease. If you want to know how to live the most radical life possible I hope you’ll join me on this journey.

Time Stamps:

00:09:57 Podcast begins

00:10:58 John’s backstory as a physician

00:17:40 The inner workings of pharmaceutical companies

00:28:00 John’s experience with the FBI

00:29:30 Details on the Vioxx case

00:37:35 Directed consumer marketing of pharmaceuticals

00:44:10 Details about the most recent Vioxx trial

00:46:10 Conflicts of interest in the medical world and thoughts on Statins

00:51:30 The Diabetes Prevention Program

00:59:45 Pharmaceutical companies’ spending

01:10:10 What is the way forward and how can we change medical education?