Blood-boosting Procrit is Johnson & Johnson's biotech superstar. Behind its various brand names, it ranks as Medicare's most reimbursed drug. But Procrit performs frighteningly well, and can stimulate so many blood cells that thousands of patients die in unexplained and painful ways. And that's not all: Cancer patients, who often receive injections, are never warned that the drug stimulates tumor growth, too, prompting one leading hematologist to dub it "Miracle-Gro for cancer."
While patients have no clue about the risks behind this poorly tested drug, Johnson & Johnson sales rep Mark Duxbury knows precisely what is happening—the pharma behemoth is blatantly marketing overdoses of the drug. Duxbury tries to warn his superiors and is forced to testify in a secret court about illegal schemes. But his honesty costs him his career. Humiliated and ignored for years, Duxbury is ultimately betrayed in a shockingly cruel way. The psychological trauma drives him to attempt suicide, yet he fights on for several more years until the heartbreaking end. A Civil Action's Jan Schlichtmann has taken on the case, and is back in federal district court in Massachusetts.
And all the while, Johnson & Johnson has continued to push sales of Procrit.
Blood Feud is award-winning journalist Kathleen Sharp's nail-biting exposé of the Procrit case. Packed with corporate espionage, plot twists, and larger-than-life characters, it's as gripping as it is terrifyingly true.
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“A page-turner, this alarming chronicle of profit seeking in American medicine will appeal to all who are invested in the health care they receive or the drugs they’re prescribed.”
— Library Journal
Sharp tells the story of sales rep Mark Duxbury, who challenged the wisdom of selling Procrit and, after testifying in a closed court, was hounded from his job.
— Library JournalBe the first to write a review about this audiobook!
Kathleen Sharp is a speaker, award-winning journalist, and bestselling author whose top books have been adapted for film. She is the author of Blood Medicine: The Man Who Blew the Whistle on One of the Deadliest Prescription Drugs Ever; Mr. & Mrs. Hollywood: Edie and Lew Wasserman and Their Entertainment Empire; In Good Faith; Stalking the Beast: A History of Hollywood through the King Kong Movies; and several anthologies. She is a former correspondent for the Boston Globe and has written for several magazines, including the New York Times, the Los Angeles Times, Playboy, Elle, and Parade. She has also appeared on Book TV, ABC News, C-SPAN, and The Armstrong Williams Show, among others, and on dozens of national radio shows and consulted on film documentaries for Turner Classic Movies, the Biography Channel, and Bravo. She lives in Santa Barbara, California.
Coleen Marlo is an AudioFile Earphones Award–winning narrator who has been nominated for an Audie Award twice, winning in 2011. She has been awarded three Listen-Up Awards from Publishers Weekly, an AudioFile Audiobook of the Year Award in 2011, and was named Audiobook Narrator of the Year for 2010 by Publishers Weekly. She is a member of the prestigious Actors Studio and taught acting for ten years at the Lee Strasberg Theatre & Film Institute. Marlo is a proud founding member of Deyan Institute of Voice Artistry and Technology.