Good Drugs, Bad Companies #558

April 19, 2020

Medicines. We all need to take them. And it seems like the prices are just getting higher and higher. Luckily, generics offer a cheaper alternative. And we are told that they are both the same drug and do the same thing, we assume in the same way. But it turns out that's not really quite true. This week, we're talking with Katherine Eban about her book "Bottle of Lies: The Inside Story of the Generic Drug Boom".

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This episode is hosted by Bethany Brookshire, science writer from Science News.

Guests:

  • Katherine Eban
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Guest Bios

Katherine Eban

Katherine Eban, an investigative journalist, is a Fortune magazine contributor and Andrew Carnegie fellow. Her articles on pharmaceutical counterfeiting, gun trafficking, and coercive interrogations by the CIA, have won international attention and numerous awards. Her first book, "Dangerous Doses: a True Story of Cops, Counterfeiters and the Contamination of America's Drug Supply", was named one of the Best Books of 2005 by Kirkus Reviews and was a Barnes and Noble Discover Great New Writers pick. She lectures frequently on the topic of pharmaceutical integrity. Her second book "Bottle of Lies: The Inside Story of the Generic Drug Boom" is a New York Times bestseller and a New York Times Editor's Choice/Staff Pick. Based on a decade of reporting, the book reveals endemic fraud and dire conditions in the overseas manufacturing plants where the majority of our low-cost generic medicine is made.