Deadly Medicine

The January issue of Vanity Fair has a very interesting investigative piece entitled Deadly Medicine (free full text here) by Donald Bartlett and James Steele, which explores the globalization of the pharmaceutical industry and the effect that has had on the drug approval process. The majority of data used in the new drug approval process now comes from other countries where regulatory oversight is scant. Moreover, they describe co-opting of the FDA by industry. In some countries, doctors enrolling patients in clinical trials can earn 25-fold more money from enrolling one patient than from their monthly salary. This creates huge conflicts of interest. And then there is the exploitation of patients who may not even understand the trial they have been enrolled in and the risks they are bearing. It's a sobering and scary piece, but well worth reading.