Before the advent of modern antibiotics, one's life could be abruptly shattered by contagion and death, and debility from infectious diseases and epidemics was commonplace for early Americans, regardless of social status. Concerns over health affected the founding fathers and their families as it did slaves, merchants, immigrants, and everyone else in North America. As both victims of illness and national leaders, the founders occupied a unique position...

This book moves the conversation about prescription drugs to where it hits home: our own bodies. How, Critser asks, has "big pharma" created a nation of pharmaceutical tribes, each with its own unique beliefs, taboos, and brand loyalties? How have powerful chemical compounds for chronic diseases, once controlled by physicians, become substances we feel entitled to, whether we need them or not? How did we come to hate drug companies but love their...

"The inside story of how Big Pharma's relentless pursuit of ever-higher profits corrupts medical knowledge, misleading doctors, misdirecting American health care, and harming our health"--Book jacket flap.