Examines the possible consequences of the growth of prescription drug use and the impact of direct-to-consumer promotion (DTC) and off-label marketing.

This in-depth look at the rise of Big Pharma and pill marketing is “a page-turner” (Booklist, starred review). A finalist for a PEN America Literary Award for Research Nonfiction, this book takes a deep look at how the pharmaceutical industry—with some help from the medical and insurance fields and from American consumers themselves—has pushed its products, often at the expense of our health. Generation Rx reveals the roots of many of the widespread societal problems we face today, explaining how marketing efforts changed powerful chemical compounds for chronic diseases, once controlled by physicians, into substances we feel entitled to, whether we need them or not. Using exclusive interviews with the strategists, scientists, and current and former heads of GlaxoSmithKline, Eli Lilly, Merck, Roche, and more, the author of Fat Land presents a “fascinating and disturbing” story of business interests unleashed on an unsuspecting public, and a cultural shift that has caused lasting—and sometimes lethal—damage (New Scientist). “What Fast Food Nation did for the way Americans eat, Greg Critser does for the way we medicate ourselves.” —Michael Pollan, bestselling author of The Omnivore’s Dilemma

How are the kids of Generation Rx doing now? This groundbreaking book reveals the answers—and raises some important new questions. Written by a clinician with more than thirty years of experience with child patients, Remembering Ritalin offers an intimate and revealing look at the ADHD generation—how they’re doing now and the long-term effects of their diagnoses, medication, and treatment. Revisiting former patients who are now in their twenties, Dr. Diller takes a fresh look at the issue of treating our kids. Is ADHD a useful diagnosis, or an oversimplified, harmful label? What are Ritalin’s long-term effects—good and bad? Together with his articulate former patients, Remembering Ritalin provides insights into one of the most controversial treatment methods of our time. Parents, professionals, and anyone who has been prescribed Ritalin will find these observations illuminating as they delve into the healing process and attempt to answer the question, “Was it the right choice?”

A Companion to Medical Anthropology examines the current issues, controversies, and state of the field in medical anthropology today. Provides an expert view of the major topics and themes to concern the discipline since its founding in the 1960s Written by leading international scholars in medical anthropology Covers environmental health, global health, biotechnology, syndemics, nutrition, substance abuse, infectious disease, and sexuality and reproductive health, and other topics

This compelling, honest book investigates the growing epidemic of prescription painkiller abuse among today's Generation Rx. Through gripping profiles and heartbreaking confessions, this memoir dares to uncover the reality -- the addiction, the withdrawal, and the recovery -- of this newest generation of pill poppers. Joshua Lyon was no stranger to substance abuse. By the time he was seventeen, he had already found sanctuary in pot, cocaine, Ecstasy, and mushrooms -- just to name a few. Ten years later, on assignment for Jane magazine, he found himself with a two-inch-thick bottle of Vicodin in his hands and only one decision to make: dispose of the bottle or give in to his curiosity. He chose the latter. In a matter of weeks he'd found his perfect drug. In the early half of this decade, purchasing painkillers without a doctor was as easy as going online and checking the spam filter in your inbox. The accessibility of these drugs -- paired with a false perception of their safety -- contributed to their epidemic-like spread throughout America's twenty-something youth, a group dubbed Generation Rx. Pill Head is Joshua Lyon's harrowing and bold account of this generation, and it's also a memoir about his own struggle to recover from his addiction to painkillers. The story of so many who have shared this experience--from discovery to addiction to rehabilitation -- Pill Head follows the lives of several young people much like Joshua and dares to blow open the cultural phenomena of America's newest pill-popping generation. Marrying the journalist's eye with the addict's mind, Joshua takes readers through the shocking and often painful profiles of recreational users and suffering addicts as they fight to recover. Pill Head is not only a memoir of descent, but of endurance and of determination. Ultimately, it is a story of encouragement for anyone who is wrestling to overcome addiction, and anyone who is looking for the strength to heal.

Winner of the IPPY Award gold medal for Most Progressive Health Book On December 2, 2004, Gwen Olsen’s niece Megan committed suicide by setting herself on fire—and ended her tortured life as a victim of the adverse effects of prescription drugs. Olsen’s poignant autobiographical journey through the darkness of mental illness and the catastrophic consequences that lurk in medicine cabinets around the country offers an honest glimpse into alarming statistics and a health care system ranked last among nineteen industrialized nations worldwide. As a former sales representative in the pharmaceutical industry for several years, Olsen learned firsthand how an unprecedented number of lethal drugs are unleashed in the United States market, but her most heartrending education into the dangers of antidepressants would come as a victim and ultimately, as a survivor. Rigorously researched and documented, Confessions of an Rx Drug Pusher is a moving human drama that shares one woman’s unforgettable journey of faith, forgiveness, and healing.

Millions of Americans are taking prescription drugs made in China and don't know it-- and pharmaceutical companies are not eager to tell them. This probing book examines the implications for the quality and availability of vital medicines for consumers. Several decades ago, penicillin, vitamin C, and many other prescription and over-the-counter products were manufactured in the United States. But with the rise of globalization, antibiotics, antidepressants, birth control pills, blood pressure medicines, cancer drugs, among many others are made in China and sold in the United States. China's biggest impact on the US drug supply is making essential ingredients for thousands of medicines found in American homes and used in hospital intensive care units and operating rooms. The authors convincingly argue that there are at least two major problems with this scenario. First, it is inherently risky for the United States to become dependent on any one country as a source for vital medicines, especially given the uncertainties of geopolitics. For example, if an altercation in the South China Sea causes military personnel to be wounded, doctors may rely upon medicines with essential ingredients made by the adversary. Second, lapses in safety standards and quality control in Chinese manufacturing are a risk. Citing the concerns of FDA officials and insiders within the pharmaceutical industry, the authors document incidents of illness and death caused by contaminated medications that prompted reform. This is a disturbing, well-researched book and a wake-up call for improving the current system of drug supply and manufacturing.