---
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title: "Pharma: Greed, Lies, and the Poisoning of America"
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# Pharma: Greed, Lies, and the Poisoning of America

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## Description

Award-winning journalist and New York Times bestselling author Gerald Posner reveals the heroes and villains of the trillion-dollar-a-year pharmaceutical industry and delivers “a withering and encyclopedic indictment of a drug industry that often seems to prioritize profits over patients” ( The New York Times Book Review ). Pharmaceutical breakthroughs such as anti­biotics and vaccines rank among some of the greatest advancements in human history. Yet exorbitant prices for life-saving drugs, safety recalls affecting tens of millions of Americans, and soaring rates of addiction and overdose on pre­scription opioids have caused many to lose faith in drug companies. Now, Americans are demanding a national reckoning with a monolithic industry. Gerald Posner’s “ dogged reporting sets Pharma apart from all books on this subject” ( The Washington Standard ) as we are introduced to brilliant scientists, incorruptible government regulators, and brave whistleblowers facing off against company exec­utives often blinded by greed. A business that profits from treating ills can create far deadlier problems than it cures. Addictive products are part of the industry’s DNA, from the days when corner drugstores sold morphine, heroin, and cocaine, to the past two decades of dangerously overprescribed opioids. Pharma also uncovers the real story of the Sacklers, the family that became one of America’s wealthiest from the success of OxyContin, their blockbuster narcotic painkiller at the center of the opioid crisis. Relying on thousands of pages of government and corporate archives, dozens of hours of interviews with insiders, and previously classified FBI files, Posner exposes the secrets of the Sacklers’ rise to power—revelations that have long been buried under a byzantine web of interlocking companies with ever-changing names and hidden owners. The unexpected twists and turns of the Sackler family saga are told against the startling chronicle of a powerful industry that sits at the intersection of public health and profits. “Explosively, even addictively, readable” ( Booklist , starred review), Pharma reveals how and why American drug com­panies have put earnings ahead of patients.

Review: IF ANYONE WANTS TO UNDERSTAND WHY DRUG PRICES ARE SO MUCH HIGHER IN AMERICA, START HERE - If anyone wants to know why prescription drugs in America cost on average twice as much as the same drugs do in Europe, Mr. Posner explains it well in Pharma using as a thread a history of the Sackler Family--founders of a small Pharma Empire centered in Purdue Pharmaceuticals. Meticulously footnoted and engrossing (as all of Mr. Posner’s books are) the primary source of his findings is the voluminous discovery resulting from decades of state and federal litigation against pharmaceutical companies including Purdue—a mass marketer and seller of OxyCodin. According to Pharma, the three primary contributors to the highest average drug prices in the world are: (1) non-regulation of drug prices, (2) special federal legislation and regulation favoring Pharma (or the absence or insufficiency of such—e.g. the FDA has only 39 employees to review the veracity of 35,000 drug ads per year); and (3) the unregulated “middlemen” of American drug sales and distribution: Pharmacy Benefit Managers. Perhaps the biggest “Lie” pedaled by Pharma is that their R&D costs are so much higher than drug manufacturers face in Europe. Nonsense points out Mr. Posner. Much of new drug research is actually funded by the federal government in the form of research grants and special legislation. For example, by using the grants and tax credits afforded by the ODA, up to 70% of a new orphan drug’s R&D is paid for by the government. (To read the entire review please see The Reader's Corner at the progressive republican forum.)
Review: Outstanding book on the history of pharmacy/pharmaceutical companies - It took me the month of May to read this book (539 pages) with a comprehensive bibliography and notes (223 pages). This history of pharmacy and pharmaceutical companies provides you with the stories of what has happened over time that have never been told in a book. As a pharmacist, I highly recommend this book to educate you about what has happened in the United States and why we need affordable healthcare for everyone. I was fortunate to hear a TV interview with Gerald Posner in April as this book was being released. Gerald Posner (and his wife Trisha) spent three years investigating the pharmaceutical industry..."besides interviews, the history presented in this book is the result of research in voluminous government and private archives on two continents". I wish all medical professionals (i.e., prescribers and pharmacists) would read this book since we are part of the problem. Just listen to all the direct advertising of drugs on the TV...only the US and New Zealand allow this to happen. There is one chapter (The Coming Pandemic) about price-gouging and antibiotic-resistant bacteria due to over-prescribing and allowing antibiotics in livestock and spraying on citrus crops. They also mention the cross-species transmission of infections that has caused every major epidemic across the world. The growth of "supergerms" like the coronavirus is going to be a part of our demise without antibiotic and antiviral drug development or vaccines. The Sackler family who owns Purdue Pharma and made OxyContin (that made billions for the company and has killed millions of people in the US) is covered in detail throughout the book. "Besides U.S. holdings that are opaque to investigators, there are offshore trusts, holding companies, and limited partnerships in international tax havens. Many of the foreign OxyContin distributorships are wrapped in a series of contracts between shell companies based in Cypress, Bermuda, Switzerland, Singapore, and the Channel Islands. Whatever ownership stake the Sacklers might have is nearly impossible to determine given the corporate secrecy laws of those tax haven jurisdictions. Their stake in Cap 1 LLC, a closely held company that owns and manages ski resorts, is estimated to be worth close to $2 billion." Rudy Giuliani was once hired by the Sackler family as their company attorney who got a deal for the OxyContin maker to continue sales of the drug despite it causing opioid deaths (May 2018). The family-owned company has voted themselves at least four billion dollars in company profits from 2008 to 2016...and this has been distributed to a dozen entities and trusts they control. On September 13, 2019 Purdue filed for bankruptcy protection and they have yet admitted to any personal liability for inappropriate marketing of OxyContin. For example, the Sackler family owns Mundipharma and has limited partnership in two other companies (Imbrium and Adlon Therapeutics) who want to market an ADHD and an insomnia medication. They also want to market two opiate overdose medications: nalmefene and an OTC naloxone nasal spray. I am so thankful that I understand more about the maze of the pharmaceutical industry and hope that Gerald and Trisha Posner continue their investigative work.

## Technical Specifications

| Specification | Value |
|---------------|-------|
| Best Sellers Rank | #164,186 in Books ( See Top 100 in Books ) #12 in Pharmaceutical & Biotechnology Industry (Books) #52 in Sociological Study of Medicine #106 in Company Business Profiles (Books) |
| Customer Reviews | 4.7 out of 5 stars 444 Reviews |

## Images

![Pharma: Greed, Lies, and the Poisoning of America - Image 1](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/61Wg6Ll-flL.jpg)

## Customer Reviews

### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ IF ANYONE WANTS TO UNDERSTAND WHY DRUG PRICES ARE SO MUCH HIGHER IN AMERICA, START HERE
*by P***X on March 14, 2023*

If anyone wants to know why prescription drugs in America cost on average twice as much as the same drugs do in Europe, Mr. Posner explains it well in Pharma using as a thread a history of the Sackler Family--founders of a small Pharma Empire centered in Purdue Pharmaceuticals. Meticulously footnoted and engrossing (as all of Mr. Posner’s books are) the primary source of his findings is the voluminous discovery resulting from decades of state and federal litigation against pharmaceutical companies including Purdue—a mass marketer and seller of OxyCodin. According to Pharma, the three primary contributors to the highest average drug prices in the world are: (1) non-regulation of drug prices, (2) special federal legislation and regulation favoring Pharma (or the absence or insufficiency of such—e.g. the FDA has only 39 employees to review the veracity of 35,000 drug ads per year); and (3) the unregulated “middlemen” of American drug sales and distribution: Pharmacy Benefit Managers. Perhaps the biggest “Lie” pedaled by Pharma is that their R&D costs are so much higher than drug manufacturers face in Europe. Nonsense points out Mr. Posner. Much of new drug research is actually funded by the federal government in the form of research grants and special legislation. For example, by using the grants and tax credits afforded by the ODA, up to 70% of a new orphan drug’s R&D is paid for by the government. (To read the entire review please see The Reader's Corner at the progressive republican forum.)

### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Outstanding book on the history of pharmacy/pharmaceutical companies
*by M***F on June 1, 2020*

It took me the month of May to read this book (539 pages) with a comprehensive bibliography and notes (223 pages). This history of pharmacy and pharmaceutical companies provides you with the stories of what has happened over time that have never been told in a book. As a pharmacist, I highly recommend this book to educate you about what has happened in the United States and why we need affordable healthcare for everyone. I was fortunate to hear a TV interview with Gerald Posner in April as this book was being released. Gerald Posner (and his wife Trisha) spent three years investigating the pharmaceutical industry..."besides interviews, the history presented in this book is the result of research in voluminous government and private archives on two continents". I wish all medical professionals (i.e., prescribers and pharmacists) would read this book since we are part of the problem. Just listen to all the direct advertising of drugs on the TV...only the US and New Zealand allow this to happen. There is one chapter (The Coming Pandemic) about price-gouging and antibiotic-resistant bacteria due to over-prescribing and allowing antibiotics in livestock and spraying on citrus crops. They also mention the cross-species transmission of infections that has caused every major epidemic across the world. The growth of "supergerms" like the coronavirus is going to be a part of our demise without antibiotic and antiviral drug development or vaccines. The Sackler family who owns Purdue Pharma and made OxyContin (that made billions for the company and has killed millions of people in the US) is covered in detail throughout the book. "Besides U.S. holdings that are opaque to investigators, there are offshore trusts, holding companies, and limited partnerships in international tax havens. Many of the foreign OxyContin distributorships are wrapped in a series of contracts between shell companies based in Cypress, Bermuda, Switzerland, Singapore, and the Channel Islands. Whatever ownership stake the Sacklers might have is nearly impossible to determine given the corporate secrecy laws of those tax haven jurisdictions. Their stake in Cap 1 LLC, a closely held company that owns and manages ski resorts, is estimated to be worth close to $2 billion." Rudy Giuliani was once hired by the Sackler family as their company attorney who got a deal for the OxyContin maker to continue sales of the drug despite it causing opioid deaths (May 2018). The family-owned company has voted themselves at least four billion dollars in company profits from 2008 to 2016...and this has been distributed to a dozen entities and trusts they control. On September 13, 2019 Purdue filed for bankruptcy protection and they have yet admitted to any personal liability for inappropriate marketing of OxyContin. For example, the Sackler family owns Mundipharma and has limited partnership in two other companies (Imbrium and Adlon Therapeutics) who want to market an ADHD and an insomnia medication. They also want to market two opiate overdose medications: nalmefene and an OTC naloxone nasal spray. I am so thankful that I understand more about the maze of the pharmaceutical industry and hope that Gerald and Trisha Posner continue their investigative work.

### ⭐⭐⭐⭐ History
*by J***S on June 2, 2025*

I was pleasantly surprised when Mr. Posner included the history of pharmacology. Growing up in a family of pharmacists, owning a pharmacy gives such insight into the "family business". The discoveries were fascinating. It started to get a bit bogged down in the middle with too much detail. I certainly am not criticizing Mr. Posner as I have enjoyed other works by him.

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*Last updated: 2026-09-18*