Katherine Eban

5 stars

Bottle of Lies is the story of the generic drug boom of the early 2000s, specifically that caused by the increasing availability of cheap generic drugs from India and China. It follows the history of one specific Indian drug company, Ranbaxy, and the attempts by a whistleblower, certain contingents of the FDA, and FDA inspectors to bring attention to its widespread issues. In doing so, it exposes the consequences of globalization on the generic pharmaceutical industry as a whole.

This book was genuinely frightening. Eban's writing style is very engaging; it doesn't read like nonfiction. In fact, I spent most of the book wishing it was as I looked suspiciously at the pill bottle full of generic medication next to me. I would say it is one of the best pieces of investigative journalism I've ever read.… (más)

This book is fairly limited in its scope, but it points out important issues that affect pretty much everyone because pretty much everyone, at one time or another, uses prescription medication. The main focus here is on a company in India and the government regulation of that company, but the issues raised go well beyond the "star attraction" of this book. There are "bad" people and bad companies and bad regulators and bad oversight of those regulators...and bad understanding by the average prescription drug buyer of how bad everything is. Many of us badly need to read this.… (más)