The Bottom Line
- A frightening wake-up call for anyone who takes any form of legal, prescribed drug.
- Illustrates an extreme of the dangerous patient environment.
- Great read – like a crime novel, only it's non-fiction, current events.
- There have been some changes in regulations since publication in 2005.
Description
- Publisher: Harvest / Harcourt, Inc.
- ISBN: 978-0-151-01050-9
- Year Published: 2005
- Hardcover Price: (not available)
- Softcover Price: $ 14 USD / higher in Canada
- 479 pages
Guide Review - Dangerous Doses by Katherine Eban
Like many Americans, I had heard the term "counterfeit drugs" and assumed it referred to those drugs we hear about that are manufactured overseas, with fake ingredients, only to be sold to people who order them from overseas, hoping to save a few dollars through their purchase.
I couldn't have been more wrong.
In fact, Dangerous Doses, written by Katherine Eban, investigative reporter and former journalist for The New York Times, ABC News, Self Magazine and other mainstream media, outlines the real threat of counterfeit drugs. Americans are getting sicker and dying, while taking the drugs they trust. Even the professionals don't know they are being duped.
How does it happen? Legal and clean drugs are fed into the warehousing and distribution systems as they should be by their manufacturers. But the supply chain gets interrupted, and the drugs get violated by being purchased or stolen, then diluted, infected or exposed, before being reintroduced to the supply chain at a higher price. They wind up in our neighborhood pharmacies or hospitals and are dispensed to us unsuspecting patients.
From street hoodlums to organized crime, those who used to deal in illegal drugs are now cashing in on legal drugs, at our expense.
The book is a great read, like reading an episode of CSI or Law & Order. As you read it, just don't forget that it's a news report, and a cautionary tale. It is chillingly real.
