Sharp, Kathleen. Blood Feud: The Man Who Blew the Whistle on One of the Deadliest Prescription Drugs Ever. Dutton Publishers. 2011.ISBN: 978-0525952404
A block buster of a book that should be read by every person who will ever take a prescription drug in their lifetime. In short: all of us.
In what is probably one of the most hushed up, covered up, quieted cases of all, this book exposes the behind the scenes shenanigans that drug companies engage in to up their sales in a high stakes, winner take home billions of dollars and to hell with the consumer attitude that seems to pervade an industry that we would like to think is working in our best interest - but is not.
During the 1990's. the drug Procrit was developed in order to help dialysis patients with anemia keep more of their red blood cells and reduce the need for blood transfusions. Because AmGen- the developer of Procrit was broke - they made a deal with the devil in the form of Johnson and Johnson to sell the licensing rights to sell Procrit for non-dialysis use to J and J.
The devil took the ball and ran. Ruthless sales techniques were used to by each company in order to make their drug look better and do better. Unethical, undocumented patient trials were conducted by sales reps all in the name of promoting their drugs, and pushing physicians to use more drugs than was indicated, and using these drugs in risky, off label use in order to promote their sales figures.
You might be familiar with Procrit. It's one of those illegal drugs that cyclists were using in the 90's to enhance their performance. Is this one of the drugs that Lance Armstrong was using that earned him that life time cycling ban? Turns out, it was. You can find out more about this here: http://www.nytimes.com/2012/10/12/opinion/lance-armstrong-and-our-doping-nation.html?_r=0
and here: http://www.cyclingnews.com/features/armstrongs-fraud-paralleled-epo-makers-feud.
In the late 90's, the makers of Procrit began pushing for Procrit to be prescribed in high dosage amounts that were not approved by the FDA for people who were undergoing cancer treatments. Death was the result of this usage- unnecessary deaths in many cases- but since this risky, off label use was being promoted by sales reps and not in a controlled study, the results were squashed and the off label promotion continued.
Medicare Fraud. If you've wondered why the price of medicine is so high, it's explained in detail in the pages of this book. It's frightening how much money was spent by the pharmecuetical companies to help doctors get around the medicare system and get reimbursed at a high profit for drugs that they were receiving well below market value- or for free- from the sales reps.
This story is told from the point of view of Mark Duxbury, the man who finally blew the whistle on Procrit, and told the Federal Government not only what kind of fraud was being perpetrated, but also gave the down and dirty details of how this drug was being pushed in risky ways that was killing patients - all in the name of higher profits.
While Duxbury is not a likeable guy.... he had the guts to get out there and expose the truth. Was his motivation money? Was it doing the right thing? Was it revenge? We will never really know the true reason behind his motivation for getting out and exposing this level of fraud and deception, but we should all be thankful that he did.
I found this book to be angering and disturbing on so many levels. Lives of my family and friends have been lost to cancer. Many family members were give Procrit in their final days. After reading the description of death by Procrit, I know that I have family members who were lost to this drug and the high-wheeling, "hey I can get more money in my own pocket and maybe this will help" mentality that was pervading medical practices at that time. Would my loved ones still be alive today if they had not been given Procrit? I have no idea. However, I do know that at least one death would have been a hell of a lot cleaner than it was had they not been given that drug. I watched a person I love die a horrible, terrible death that could not have been any worse than anything done to people in the middle ages.
Just so you know that the author of the story is not making this up, here are some links to articles about this story:
http://www.cbsnews.com/news/drug-rep-in-3b-procrit-case-80-of-my-sales-were-medicare-fraud-carried-400k-in-cash/
http://www.aboutlawsuits.com/supreme-court-rejects-procrit-whistleblower-lawsuit-appeal-11020/
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/25/health/25amgen.html
The class action lawsuit is closed, fyi.
However, I will forever be more wary of what drugs I take, and ask many questions of my doctors, including "Are you receiving compensation from this drug maker?"
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