The Goose That Laid the Golden Egg

Accutane - the Truth That Had to Be Told

By: Doug Bremner

Narrated by: Steve Edwards

Length: 4 hrs and 49 mins

Publisher's summary

In 2001 Hoffmann-La Roche's drug Accutane was selling in the billions worldwide as a treatment for acne. For those who suffered from extreme, scarring acne, it was something of a miraculous treatment; however evidence started to mount that for others it was a death sentence. Over the next few years, it was estimated that between 300 and 3,000 young people being prescribed Accutane since its launch had committed suicide. Dr. Doug Bremner, a professor of psychiatry and radiology at Emory University, found that the drug did have an effect on the brain likely to cause acute depression in some patients, which was not surprising as it is a molecular cousin of Vitamin A, which is known to cause depression in excessive quantities. One might think the drug company would have welcomed these findings. You might like to think again on that one. The Goose That Laid The Golden Egg is the account of what Hoffmann-La Roche did next, which was to prosecute a determined, energetic, and vindictive campaign against Dr. Bremner, designed to suppress his findings and destroy his career and livelihood. Knowing that the life of a whistleblower is rarely a happy one, why did Dr. Bremner decide to take anything that Hoffman-La Roche could throw at him rather than back down?

It could be that he had a strong belief that the public should be well informed about the side effects of drugs in order to be able to make an objective decision, but maybe there was also a more emotional one stretching back to an equally determined, energetic, and vindictive web of secrecy based on a pivotal and traumatic event in his childhood, which he was also determined to get to the bottom of. From the pen of the author of Before You Take That Pill: Why the Drug Industry May Be Bad for Your Health, this is a truly riveting and emotional listen detailing just what it costs to take on the full might of one of the largest corporations in the world.

©2011,2014 Doug Bremner (P)2015 Doug Bremner

Time, a Healer of Wounds

Writing allows communication across time. Roughly 10 years after it's original release “The Goose That Laid the Golden Egg” conveyed to me a story of a personal search for healing from early childhood loss and a quest to find life’s mission. As a Thurston county native the setting is well known and as a semi retired physician with a background in pharmacy, nuclear pharmacy, osteopathic medicine, and radiation oncology I continue that search for my mission for the final quarter of my own journey. Dr. Bremner’s book was recommended by his father who is rightly proud of his son. (I was his patient in 1973)
In these current times we need to ask the questions asked by Dr. Brenner and seek solutions. GJBrownDO 9/21/2023

Interesting, eye opening, with great nerration

A very enjoyable audio. i enjoyed the narrator's vocal inflection. Much more than just a reveal of one companies ploy to push a dangerous drug on the world. It reveals the authors journey dealing with his own personal struggles. The authors way of writing coupled with the narrators style made for a story that was so engaging I felt myself drawn into each scene with the author.