Bottle of Lies

The Inside Story of the Generic Drug Boom

De: Katherine Eban

Narrado por: Katherine Eban

From an award-winning Fortune reporter, an explosive narrative investigation of the generic drug boom that reveals the life-threatening dangers posed by globalization—The Jungle for pharmaceuticals

The widespread use of generic drugs has been hailed as one of the most important public health developments of the twentieth century. Today, almost 90 percent of our pharmaceutical market is comprised of generics, the majority of which are manufactured overseas. We have been reassured by our pharmacists, our doctors, and our regulators that the generic and brand-name drugs are identical, generics just cheaper. But is this really true?

Katherine Eban’s Bottle of Lies exposes the widespread deceit behind generic drug manufacturing—creating terrifying risks for global health. Drawing on exclusive accounts from whistleblowers, inspectors, and regulators, as well as thousands of pages of confidential internal FDA documents, Eban reveals an industry where fraud is rampant, companies falsify data, and executives circumvent almost every principle of safe manufacturing to minimize cost and maximize profit. Meanwhile, patients unwittingly consume adulterated medicine with unpredictable and even life-threatening effects.

The story of generic drugs is truly global: it connects middle America to sub-Saharan Africa, China, India, and Brazil, and encompasses every market banking on the promise of a low-cost cure. Given that tens of millions of patients take drugs of dubious quality approved with fake data, the generics industry is the ultimate litmus test of globalization: what is the risk of moving drug manufacturing offshore, and is it worth the savings?

An investigation with international sweep, exotic settings, molecular mayhem, and big money at its core, Bottle of Lies reveals how the world’s greatest public-health innovation has become one of its most astonishing swindles.

holy sh*t this is an eyeopener

extremely detailed reporting tells the story from the other side of the low cost generic Market. People have told me that the reason drugs are so cheap in Africa is that they are cheap to manufacture and in the United States we are suckers paying drug companies. Mow I know that those drugs sold in Africa may be made in somebody's house and maybe fully fraudulent due to lack of regulation.

Bottle of Lies Review

I had first come to know of this book when I listened to a podcast with Peter Attia and Elizabeth Eban-and knew that I needed to read this important piece of work. I hope to never ingest a generic drug or over-the-counter medication. How can they possibly be trusted? And shame on our lax FDA. Peter Baker got it right when he tattooed “integrity” on his arm. In a nutshell, scary!!! Everyone should read this book. The cost of producing a movie or mini-series of Bottle of Lies would be worthy of this book’s content. In so many way’s, integrity is missing from our world. Thank God for individual’s who embody integrity. Thank you to Elizabeth Eban, and all the individual’s she mentioned in her epilogue and acknowledgements-and the hero’s in the book. We need more Peter Baker’s in this world.

very informative and amazing narrative style

an eye opener to new aspects I thought previously irrelevant. The book is well written with fiction like thrill style. very good and useful book

Exceptional investigative work.

Finally! A book I couldn't "put down". Exceptional investigative work. Over the years, I have become familiar with Katherine's articles in VF, and this book was everything I hoped for and expected. Katherine Eban changed my perspective and shattered prior notions about generic drugs. Top-notch reporting, stellar organization, and book layout, are a treat from the readership viewpoint. Sadly, the seriousness of the subject matter has left me discouraged and overwhelmed. Worth mentioning, the author’s reading of the book on Audible, added more to the experience.

WOW unbelievable I couldn't stop listening

It’s been a month since I finished this and still can’t stop thinking about it. We are very lucky to have Pharmaceuticals, however, I cannot express enough the value of this information so you can make informed decisions. This made me so angry at times and disgusted me with the FDA but also reminded me that I’m responsible for my own actions and welfare not some unknown face in a foreign country. Don’t wait!!! Start now making healthier changes to your life and do everything in your power to avoid or delay the need of pharmaceuticals as long as possible. Highly recommend… And thank you to the whistle blowers and reporter that put themselves in harm’s way to bring this to the public.