A solid exegetic demanding further analysis—and answers from big pharma.
A dispiriting behind-the-scenes look at how prescription drugs are manufactured and distributed in the U.S.
“The systems to discover, develop, distribute, and pay for pharmaceuticals has become excessively complex, with too many mouths to feed and too much temptation for profit-seeking. All of these problems come at the cost of public health.” So write Kinch and Weiman in this vigorous examination of the countless players involved in the production of pharmaceuticals, a process that was initially designed to create safe, effective, available, and affordable medicine. The authors walk us through the ever increasing complexities that led from the corner drugstore to big pharma, showing how the introduction of new levels of bureaucracy and management—often with the good intention of increasing safety and decreasing costs—almost always spawned unintended consequences, not least of which were rising medical expenses for consumers. “Industry consolidation and outsourcing,” write the authors, “facilitated the creation of ‘middleman’ organizations, usually venture-backed startup companies, which in turn were required to generate profitability to keep the doors open and satiate their investors.” The authors do an admirable job dissecting an unwieldy industry that operates with utter opacity (original chemical formulas understandably, pricing not so much). Each additional layer—e.g., molecular chemistry for production, bulk manufacture, chain pharmacies and the elimination of competition, early regulation, the FDA, clinical trials, sales and marketing, advertising, mergers and acquisitions, pharmacy benefit managers, patent law, outsourcing research and discovery—adds further costs, usually hidden and passed on to consumers. Working with the information at hand, the authors contend that pricing has all to do with what the market will bear, a common theme in any profit-heavy industry. Though some readers may get tangled up in the numbers, such is the nature of the beast, and the resulting portrait is clear—and largely disheartening.
A solid exegetic demanding further analysis—and answers from big pharma.Pub Date: April 6, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-64313-680-6
Page Count: 336
Publisher: Pegasus
Review Posted Online: Jan. 27, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2021
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Alternately admiring and critical, unvarnished, and a closely detailed account of a troubled innovator.
A warts-and-all portrait of the famed techno-entrepreneur—and the warts are nearly beyond counting.
To call Elon Musk (b. 1971) “mercurial” is to undervalue the term; to call him a genius is incorrect. Instead, Musk has a gift for leveraging the genius of others in order to make things work. When they don’t, writes eminent biographer Isaacson, it’s because the notoriously headstrong Musk is so sure of himself that he charges ahead against the advice of others: “He does not like to share power.” In this sharp-edged biography, the author likens Musk to an earlier biographical subject, Steve Jobs. Given Musk’s recent political turn, born of the me-first libertarianism of the very rich, however, Henry Ford also comes to mind. What emerges clearly is that Musk, who may or may not have Asperger’s syndrome (“Empathy did not come naturally”), has nurtured several obsessions for years, apart from a passion for the letter X as both a brand and personal name. He firmly believes that “all requirements should be treated as recommendations”; that it is his destiny to make humankind a multi-planetary civilization through innovations in space travel; that government is generally an impediment and that “the thought police are gaining power”; and that “a maniacal sense of urgency” should guide his businesses. That need for speed has led to undeniable successes in beating schedules and competitors, but it has also wrought disaster: One of the most telling anecdotes in the book concerns Musk’s “demon mode” order to relocate thousands of Twitter servers from Sacramento to Portland at breakneck speed, which trashed big parts of the system for months. To judge by Isaacson’s account, that may have been by design, for Musk’s idea of creative destruction seems to mean mostly chaos.
Alternately admiring and critical, unvarnished, and a closely detailed account of a troubled innovator.Pub Date: Sept. 12, 2023
ISBN: 9781982181284
Page Count: 688
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: Sept. 12, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 2023
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK TO SCREEN
The lessons to draw are obvious: Smoke more dope, eat less meat. Like-minded readers will dig it.
The chef, rapper, and TV host serves up a blustery memoir with lashings of self-help.
“I’ve always had a sick confidence,” writes Bronson, ne Ariyan Arslani. The confidence, he adds, comes from numerous sources: being a New Yorker, and more specifically a New Yorker from Queens; being “short and fucking husky” and still game for a standoff on the basketball court; having strength, stamina, and seemingly no fear. All these things serve him well in the rough-and-tumble youth he describes, all stickball and steroids. Yet another confidence-builder: In the big city, you’ve got to sink or swim. “No one is just accepted—you have to fucking show that you’re able to roll,” he writes. In a narrative steeped in language that would make Lenny Bruce blush, Bronson recounts his sentimental education, schooled by immigrant Italian and Albanian family members and the mean streets, building habits good and bad. The virtue of those habits will depend on your take on modern mores. Bronson writes, for example, of “getting my dick pierced” down in the West Village, then grabbing a pizza and smoking weed. “I always smoke weed freely, always have and always will,” he writes. “I’ll just light a blunt anywhere.” Though he’s gone through the classic experiences of the latter-day stoner, flunking out and getting arrested numerous times, Bronson is a hard charger who’s not afraid to face nearly any challenge—especially, given his physique and genes, the necessity of losing weight: “If you’re husky, you’re always dieting in your mind,” he writes. Though vulgar and boastful, Bronson serves up a model that has plenty of good points, including his growing interest in nature, creativity, and the desire to “leave a legacy for everybody.”
The lessons to draw are obvious: Smoke more dope, eat less meat. Like-minded readers will dig it.Pub Date: April 20, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-4197-4478-5
Page Count: 184
Publisher: Abrams
Review Posted Online: May 5, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2021
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