“Overdosed America” by John Abramson

The author 🖋

John Abramson is an American best selling author who’s been a family physician for over 20 years (and has been rated as one of the best family physicians in Massachusetts).

He’s also been teaching health care policy at Harvard Medical School for over a decade and was a fellow of the Robert Wood Johnson foundation - a philanthropic organization focused solely on health.

Key takeaways 🎓

1. The influence of Big Pharma

The author reveals how pharmaceutical companies distort medical knowledge and mislead doctors.

Studies are often funded by these corporations which extends to medical education and practice guidelines and ultimately lead to biased information that favors their products.

This includes manipulating research and promoting drugs that may not be more effective than cheaper alternatives (Abramson provides numerous examples of how clinical trials are designed and interpreted in ways that benefit the sponsors).

2. Money over health

The commercialization of the healthcare industry in America has resulted in treatments being promoted based on profit potential over improving health outcomes.

The companies that make drugs are unfortunately more interested in making money than in making sure people get the best treatment.

The author believes people should have this commercial interest in mind when considering medical advice and whether it’s actually given with their best interest in mind.

3. Too many pills

Abramson points out that lifestyle changes and non-drug therapies are almost never recommended to patients because there's no money to be made in that.

The wrong set of incentives lead to people receiving unnecessary and potentially harmful care which results in side effects that could have been avoided.

This also increases healthcare costs without actually improving health outcomes.

Closing thoughts 🧠

The book highlights the ways in which commercial interests have compromised the quality and integrity of medical care in the U.S.

Abramson argues the need for a system that prioritizes the health and well-being of patients over corporate profits - the way it is successfully done in many other countries.

His conversation on the Lex Fridman podcast is one that I very much enjoyed too.