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Thirty years after Frances Lappe's Diet for a Small Planet changed eating habits around the world, she and her daughter Anna bring us a new round of iconoclastic recommendations that break overwhelming issues down to a simple matter of personal choice. Hope's Edge presents many of the same issues of the original title, but it also provides a wealth of new discoveries and possibilities in this era of genetically engineered foods, worldwide famine, and growing rates of obesity-related health issues.
Beyond discussing a wide range of reasons to become a vegetarian (and that means no fish or chicken either, folks), the authors introduce you to a number of individual reasons for hope--Bob, the Wisconsin cheese maker; Jean-Yves, the farmer from Brittany who created the Sustainable Agriculture Network; and Muhammad Yunas, who has changed the lives of countless living in poverty with his remarkable microcredit programs. Along with these stories and the theories they're based on, you'll also find luscious recipes calling for grains, fruits, vegetables, and a handful of dairy products that will delight your taste buds and your conscience.
The Lappes firmly believe that the choices of low-level consumers have the potential to make positive changes, both in the world economy and in our physical health. By eating a vegetarian diet, shopping with care, and cooking with love, we might all brighten our future tremendously. --Jill Lightner
Book Description
Hope's Edge follows the author of the classic Diet for a Small Planet and her daughter as they travel the world, discovering practical visionaries who are making a difference in world hunger, sometimes one village at a time.
Thirty years ago, Frances Moore Lappé started a revolution in the way Americans think about food and hunger. Now Frances and her daughter, Anna, pick up where Diet for a Small Planet left off. Together they set out on an around-the-world journey to explore the greatest challenges we face in the new millennium. Traveling to Asia, Africa, Latin America, and Europe, they discovered answers to one of the most urgent issues of our time: whether we can transcend the rampant consumerism and capitalism to find the paths that each of us can follow to heal our lives as well as the planet.
Featuring nearly seventy recipes from celebrated vegetarian culinary pioneers-including Alice Waters, Mollie Katzen, Laurel Robertson, Nora Pouillon, and Anna Thomas-Hope's Edge highlights true trailblazers engaged in social, environmental, and economic transformations.
Customer Reviews:
2006 Nobel Peace Prize winner featured in the book.......2006-10-13
This is a very interesting book. It features in one part a detailed description of 2006 Nobel Peace Prize winner Muhammad Yunus and his Grameen Bank, who used microloans to help Bangladeshis, especially women, get out of poverty and earn for themselves. By issuing very small loans, the people of Bangladesh are able to build their businesses or working conditions and change their lives. I recommend this book.
Hope Gained From Insight and Diligence.......2006-08-16
Thirty years after the publication of the highly acclaimed "Diet For A Small Planet", Frances and her daughter Anna Lappe have come out with a potent sequel and a beautiful statement of hope for a more equitable world through the world-wide spread of organic and sustainable agriculture techniques and locally controlled "fair" market modalities now challenging the status quo of chemical fed, toxic pesticide/GMO laden crops, and the lopsided "free" market capitalist WTO agenda that has been reaping havoc on the environment and small farmers everywhere.
The Lappes traveled to 5 continents while researching this book and their travels are both fascinating and uplifting as they report on people all over the world demonstrating that going organic and controlling their own markets are reaping major benefits in healthy, abundant food production while cleaning up the environment.
The Lappes do not reject world trade or capitalism, rather, they demonstrate how unregulated "free" markets monopolized by huge international corporations have been inadvertently causing food scarcity, bankrupting and polluting people all over the world, yet with an injection of regulation in the form ethics, strict fair trade measures, etc., they believe capitalism can "evolve" to a more sustainable, equitable, and healthy method of food distribution- a similar optimistic view shared by Lovins and Hawken in their book, "Natural Capitalism".
The inefficiencies of nutrient and food distribution is brought home in quantifying the huge amount of crops, water, and land required to feed cattle. The amount of energy necessary to produce an ounce of meat could feed hundreds of people on a much healthier vegetarian diet, hence, the myth of food scarcity and the need to grow more food to feed the world.
Every chapter finishes with a recipe and there are many more at the end of the book along with several pages of resources and contact information on a host of organizations advocating social responsibility.
Be gentle on the earth.......2006-02-22
Good copy. Excellent vegetarian recipes. Explains why we need to eat lower on the food chain. If we do, we can feed the world's hungry people.
Goes into my life's top 5.......2004-11-21
I won't say much here, because the other reviewers have described the book well. All I will say is that this is one of the very best books I have ever read. Not only does Lappe have an incredible way with words, but she summarizes her profound insights in such a way that really organizes one's thoughts for genuine reflection. Add to that a well-documented and researched approach, as well as fascinating stories of different communities around the world which they themselves visited.
Honest Hope.......2004-05-25
Hope's Edge is a Must Read for Everyone! The book puts it all together in an easy-to-understand, personal and honest fashion: the connection between consumerism, 'brainwashing', oppression, global economy, poverty, exploitation etc. etc. The concepts presented in this book are sophisticated and have depth. I liked the personal tone of the book, the story telling. The book is very honest, the stories told utterly inspiring. Frances and Anna never 'whitewash' the porlbmes the projects they are describing are facing. This truth-telling makes the stories even more impressive, more credible. The very existence of these projects defy the global systems as we know them. The way they do 'business' defies the global system of exploitation and competition. This book makes us take an honest look at ourselves, our values, the daily choices we make, what we consume, how we live. This is not just 'about food' or poverty or world hunger, this is truly food for thought and inspiration of how to create a better world."
Book Description
A nip here, a tuck there. Less fat on the belly, butt, and thighs. More than half of all American adults admit they wouldn't mind looking "a little more perfect"-if they could afford the high price of plastic surgery. Now they can, by joining the flocks of medical tourists who are venturing to exotic overseas locales for cosmetic procedures that are equal to or better than those provided by the best doctors in Beverly Hills for as little as 10 percent of the cost.
It's how journalist Jeff Schult got his new smile, and he was so impressed with his experience that he went on to investigate the medical tourist industry and top medical centers from Costa Rica to Brazil to Thailand. The result is Beauty from Afar, a guide that offers consumers the pros and cons of traveling abroad for cosmetic or other elective surgeries. Readers will get the facts on the locations, the doctors, and the facilities, as well as the spa-like resorts where patients recover. The book also offers guidelines on how to do your own research, interview prospective surgeons, and get information about hospitals and amenities-what to expect every step of the way, even when you're back home. Beauty from Afar gives new meaning to the idea of going on vacation and coming back renewed.
Customer Reviews:
Not for me..........2007-06-09
I was looking for information on Thailand. I had better luck on the Internet and my cosmetic trip turned out fine. Since there was little on Thailand I didn't look into what else was in there. So it may be fine for other countries--I don't know.
Thanks to this book, I'm on my way to Brazil!.......2007-04-10
In a few months I will be flying to Vitoria, Brazil for a "total body" makeover with Dr. Fabio Zamprogno Mendes ([...]) thanks to Jeff's book on medical tourism (I'll write back in September and share the results!) After reading the book I had complete confidence to travel outside the U.S. for plastic surgery and the tools to adequately research everything I needed to know to make my trip a success. It's interesting that you may know one or two people who have gone to a U.S. plastic surgeon but the foreign docs have forums where all patients share. I know much more about my foreign doctor and what his patients think of him than I did with any plastic surgeon in the U.S. I can have everything done that I've dreamed of and afford it. My bill will be 60 to 70% cheaper than what I would pay here. By all means, read Jeff's book and embark on the make-over journey you have always wanted!
If you are considering surgery cosmetic or otherwise..........2007-03-17
This is an excellent reference book. It is not only informative, but also an interesting read. Mr. Schult has done all the investigative legwork for you and shares not only his own personal experience, but that of others. I highly recommend this book.
The best most comprehensive guide to medical tourism!.......2006-09-22
Jeff Schult's new book Beauty from Afar is the best most comprehensive guide book on medical tourism I've ever seen. I love the layout of the book. Very easy to read, and to find information. Mr. Schult has a wonderful way of writing that holds your interest while offering invaluable information about medical tourism. He's not biased toward or against one country or doctor over another. He takes a neutral position and simply shares the knowledge he has garnered over several years of intense research. I've recommended this book to all my friends and family members, particularly the ones who I happen to know, are seriously considering going out of the United States for plastic surgery or dental work. I give this book BOTH of my thumbs way way up!
Detailed and informative.......2006-09-21
I was pleased to read "Beauty from Afar". I was at a conference where the author spoke before the book came out and I was eagerly waiting for it. I have been to Brazil twice for plastic surgery and think the book has a lot of good information for those who are considering surgery out of the country. Medical tourism will keep being more popular as people realize that we are not the only country in the world to provide excellent medical care, and that the only way to afford what you need to have done may be to go abroad. Jeff Shult's book tells you what to look for, what to watch out for, and how to choose where to go. He gives a lot of information from people he's personally talked to or visited, so you can trust the information. Some books and articles on the subject are just rehashing what someone found on the Internet. This book actually gives you REAl information from someone who's been there (Costa Rica for dentistry). I highly recommend it as the best one out there of its type.
Book Description
First published in 2002, AIDS in the Twenty-First Century met with widespread praise from researchers and policy makers. This edition is fully revised to take account of the latest facts and developments in the field. All statistics and evidence have been updated and their meanings reconsidered. Latest developments in vaccines, anti-retroviral treatments and microbicides are discussed along with information about the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief and The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria.
Customer Reviews:
A rare focus on the social and economic context.......2002-10-23
This is the only book-length exploration of the social and economic context of the the HIV/AIDS epidemics. What comes through is that the authors are not journalists who dashed off a book on AIDS, but longtime researchers, with world-ranging experience.
WHile well documented, it is readable. The next college level course I teach on contemporary issues will surely include this as required reading. My students will thank me for it.
The best comprehensive treatment of HIV/AIDS.......2002-09-06
Tony Barnett and Alan Whieside have done a fantastic job of placing the issue of HIV/AIDS within a comprehensive context. It is easy to read, well researched, thoughtful in it's analysis, and comprehensive - that is, it places the pandemic amidst the global forces that are affecting it and which must be understood if we're to successfully turn the tide. I am recommending it to many of my colleagues! It is the best book I have read to-date on the most challenging crisis facing the human family.
Book Description
Globalization is breaking down economic, political, cultural, demographic, and social barriers across the world at an astonishing pace. The topic of globalization can arouse passionate debate in many circles including academic journals, the popular media, and even on the streets. This new world order is marked by new actors, new rules of governance, new forms of communication, and the global movement of populations. Health is an exquisitely sensitive mirror of social conditions, and the authors of this book argue that the assessment of health is an important criterion for evaluating and monitoring the progress of globalization. This book provides an analysis of the most serious global threats to health, the tools that can be used to evaluate them, and the international agencies established to respond to them. Medical threats such as infectious diseases, obesity, tobacco use, and global climate change are discussed, but the authors also expand their scope to include socio-political health impacts such as economic inequality. The complex role of organizations such as the World Health Organization, the International Monetary Fund, and the World Bank is also analyzed, as is the increasing interconnectedness of health and non-health actors. Is this blurring of boundaries really beneficial to the public's health, or have these actors abandoned health issues for power politics? By drawing together an international group of health experts,Globalization and Health provides a comprehensive account of the successes and failures, as well as the challenges and opportunities of globalization for public health.
Book Description
This anthology for first and second year students introduces them to the history of key ideas in the modern period related to sexual difference, gender, race, class, and sexuality. While most introductory Women's Studies textbooks focus on the United States, even if they add multiculturalism to the discussion, this book looks at the history of important differences between women in diverse locations around the world and continually challenges students to think through the issues that are raised.
This transnational approach to understanding gender brings Women's Studies into an era of globalization and connects women’s issues in the United States to women’s issues elsewhere. The book shows how colonialism and imperialism, as they spread across the world, shaped ideas about gender as much as other modern phenomena. It addresses issues of power and inequalities and focuses on links and connections rather than commonalties. The readings are truly interdisciplinary, drawing upon scholarly work in many disciplines and interdisciplinary fields as well as non-scholarly sources.
Customer Reviews:
Intro to Women's Studies.......2006-01-08
This book was a good introduction to Women's Studies, especially for those who have never taken a class or major in Women's Studies. The format of the book made it easy to understand concepts introduced in the essays. They even have a key terms section, which I found VERY helpful. Some of the essays can be dense, like the one going over intersectionality. Overall, I found this book very pleasant to read.
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The International Politics of Genetically Modified Food: Diplomacy, Trade and Law
Manufacturer: Palgrave Macmillan
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ASIN: 0230001254
Release Date: 2006-12-26 |
Book Description
Why has genetically modified food become a focal point in international conflicts over agriculture, trade and the environment? What are the chances for achieving effective global governance of new technologies such as genetic engineering? This book brings together state-of-the-art analyses of the international politics of biotechnology regulation. It presents explanations for the transatlantic biotech dispute, explores the growing North-South differences over how to ensure biosafety, and discusses the implications of the GM food battle for international trade and environmental law.
Customer Reviews:
Excellent.......2007-09-21
I received the book in excellent condition. I also received it in a very timely manner packaged well.
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Reproductive Rights in a Global Context: South Africa, Uganda, Peru, Denmark, the United States, Vietnam, Jordan
Lara M. Knudsen
Manufacturer: Vanderbilt University Press
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Infertility around the Globe: New Thinking on Childlessness, Gender, and Reproductive Technologies
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Women's Activism and Globalization: Linking Local Struggles and Transnational Politics
ASIN: 0826515282 |
Book Description
Traveling alone when she was between 17 and 22, with no institutional affiliation and no financial assistance, the author visited five developing countries and two developed ones on five continents. Her goal was to extend her own experience in an abortion clinic in Portland, Oregon. Lara Knudsen interviewed over 90 women's rights activists, health professionals, NGO workers, and government officials, gaining a sense of both official policies and the actual delivery of services in local clinics. The book places the experiences of women within the global context of how international population control agendas have influenced women's reproductive rights in the past, and how the changing international discourse on reproductive health continues to influence those rights today.
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Globalizing Tobacco Control: Anti-smoking Campaigns in California, France, And Japan (Tracking Globalization)
Roddey Reid
Manufacturer: Indiana University Press
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ASIN: 0253218098 |
Book Description
A tangible aspect of living, working, and traveling in the 21st century is the experience of moving between smoke-filled and smoke-free environments. In Globalizing Tobacco Control, Roddey Reid examines what lies behind this experience: the revolution in public attitudes and health codes that regulate daily routines and the life of the body. While the gradual replacement of smoking with non-smoking as the social norm is a global phenomenon, it has not followed the same trajectory everywhere. Reid compares anti-smoking campaigns in the United States, France, and Japan for what they reveal about the nature of globalization and liberal arts of government. He explores distinctive national histories of tobacco; evolving global marketing strategies of transnational tobacco corporations; "social marketing" techniques used to tailor public health messages to particular ethnic communities; and the programs of international public health organizations.
Average customer rating:
- Mostly Self-Serving
- Big Pharma's Mea Non Culpa
- A catalyst for debate.
- A Decent Book Raising Legitimate Questions
- MEA CULPA BY A BIG PHARMA CEO
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A Call to Action
Hank A. McKinnell
Manufacturer: McGraw-Hill
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ASIN: 007144808X |
Book Description
Groundbreaking and provocative, A Call to Action reframes the dialogue on healthcare and offers people a way out of the zero-sum, win-or-lose game they now encounter. Distilling more than 30 years of experience in global healthcare, McKinnell provides concrete action steps to build cost-effective, inclusive healthcare that he believes can extend millions of lives and save billions of dollars over the next generation. He addresses:
- A new, prevention-based approach to employee healthcare
- Why pharmaceutical companies have lost trust, and what they must do to regain it
- Why Americans pay more for prescription drugs than people in Canada and Europe
- How competition can spur the healthcare industry to improve services and contain prices
- How new technologies can reduce medical errors and improve the dialogues between patient and doctor
- How we might lose the race between the world’s most insidious virus and the world’s best researchers
- How we can take more responsibility for our health
McKinnell also assesses the global challenge of infectious disease, particularly the pandemic of HIV. He demonstrates why this pandemic –the worst in human history –is beyond the scope of governments acting alone —and how, even in the face of devastating global catastrophes, public-private partnerships can deliver real hope.
The healthcare crisis can be brought under control. Sick-care systems can be changed to put patiens over payers. In this book, McKinnell offers a compelling case for change, and a plan of action to make healthcare systems work for us and our children.
Customer Reviews:
Mostly Self-Serving.......2005-12-30
McKinnell, Phizer CEO, begins by pointing out that our healthcare system focuses on sickness - containing, avoiding, and shifting the costs of disease. His suggestion (hardly the first one to do so) is that we instead focus on the costs of disease.
To do this, his suggestions include 1)replacing typical health insurance reimbursement with portable "health savings accounts" where those covered would have financial incentives to improve key lifestyle components - eg. exercise, diet, smoking, etc., 2)mandating the use of electronic medication ordering (minimize drug interactions, transcription and dosage errors), 3)"disease management" programs focused on high-expenditure maladies such as diabetes, and take an overall approach to improvement (eg. include lifestyle changes), and 4)specialization of physicians and facilities ("practice makes perfect"). While again, none of these suggestions are new, they are worth repeating.
McKinnell also suggests increasing the supply of healthcare providers - however, the evidence on this is not encouraging - experts have found that a greater concentration of specialists is associated with greater procedure rates - even after taking into account variations in population. He also blames health insurance for the rapid increase in healthcare costs. However, this conclusion is undermined by the fact that despite much lower dental (vs. healthcare) coverage rates, dental costs there have increased MORE than general healthcare costs.
The bulk of the book, however, is devoted to defending the drug industry in general, and Pfizer in particular, from charges of overcharging. McKinnell points out that prescription drugs comprised about 10% of healthcare costs 40 years ago and today, that major drug advances have occurred in recent decades, and that generic drugs costs LESS in the U.S. than elsewhere. He also defends TV drug ads as helping to improve consume awareness of certain diseases - ignoring the issue of how the information is often seriously biased.
To be fair, however, McKinnell also points out commendable Phizer programs to help African nations and American nations with low incomes to buy drugs. Nonetheless, the overall focus on and bias towards defending drug companies, and the lack of originality (eg. see Leapfrog.org) regarding solutions severely limits the book's value.
"A Call to Action" would be much more valuable if McKinnell had included an idea from his own company's V.P. of Marketing - Dr. Peter Rost. Dr. Rost has concluded that "free market" in the drug industry equates with "free to charge whatever you want," and that this is not appropriate in the drug sector where often there are no alternatives to a patented drug ("60 Minutes, 6/5/05). Thus, Dr. Rost proposes that the U.S. allow "parallel trading" like exists in Europe - moving drugs from low-price areas to high-priced ones.
McKinnell also "forgot" to mention that he will be receiving an estimated $6.5 million/year in retirement, starting in 2008, despite a base pay of "only" $2.3 million in 2005, and a stock price that has declined 46% since he became CEO 5 years ago. (The Amex drug index dropped only 27% in the same period.) This fattest retirement package among all the sitting S&P 500 CEOs just MIGHT have something to do with the high cost of drugs. (BW, 2/6/06)
Big Pharma's Mea Non Culpa.......2005-08-10
If you buy the book "A Call to Action" by Pfizer's CEO, Dr. Hank McKinnell, with the notion that you will learn what this pharma executive believes the industry should do to reform itself, you are in for a big surprise. Notwithstanding an Amazon.com review of the book written by Peter Rost -- Pfizer's whistleblowing, soon-to-be non-head of Pfizer's endocrine care marketing unit and "Pharma's Black Knight" -- in which McKinnell is described as making "an impressive mea culpa," this book is actually a mea non culpa!
I had reason to expect to see suggestions for changes in the way pharma operates because at the very beginning of the book (page 13), McKinnell said that "if Pfizer wanted a seat at the table where important healthcare solutions were being hammered out, we had to earn it by acting differently, partnering differently, and communicating differently." Unfortunately, the rest of the book does NOT carry through on this theme and focuses instead on how consumers, society, employers, managed care, and government need to act differently.
Before getting to the action items, McKinnell tries to answer the most important questions put to the industry by critics and the public. These questions are:
* Why are Prescription Medicines So Expensive?
* Why Does the Industry Do So Much Advertising?
* Why Do Americans Pay More Than Canadians for Drugs?
Unfortunately, McKinnell sticks to the standard pharma industry playbook except on one or two occasions where he seems to offer contrary opinions.
Why are Prescription medicines So Expensive? It turns out, according to McKinell, that drugs are not as expensive as you think (silly you!) and that branded drugs are cheaper than the alternative - the old "an ounce of prevention is worth more than a pound of cure" defense.
In essence, his argument is, drugs are not as expensive as you think, cheaper alternatives are soon available, and drug profits are good and well deserved.
I should acknowledge at least one refreshingly contrary view expressed by McKinnell: an admission that it is a "fallacy to suggest that our industry...prices a product to recapture the R&D budget spent in development." He suggests instead that it is "investors' confidence in the risk and rewards" that drives prices.
McKinnell takes exception to critics such as Senator Bill Frist who claim that "increased direct-to-consumer advertising has helped fuel escalating drug costs." McKinell, like PhRMA, insists that "studies show there's no correlation between prices or price increases and DTC advertising."
McKinnell cites a study done in 2001 by The National Institute for Health Care Management entitled "Prescription Drug Expenditures in 2000: The Upward Trend Continues." McKinnell claims that this study shows that the "average price of drugs that are advertised is lower than those that aren't." The report, however, concludes that the increase in prescription drug spending is due, in part, to "more aggressive marketing of prescription drugs to both doctors and consumers."
Why Does the Industry Do So Much Advertising? McKinnell wants us to believe that DTC advertising is really education (he prefers ro call it "DTC education"). This is not a new mantra. Johnson & Johnson Chief Executive William Weldon, for example, said in an address to PhRMA: "Our communication with patients should really be thought of as Direct to Consumer Education."
Why Do Americans Pay More Than Canadians for Drugs? To be honest, I didn't read this chapter. According to Peter Rost, "McKinnell ... admits that drugs from Canadian pharmacies are safe ...[and] that 'perhaps pharmaceuticals represent too low a percentage of total healthcare spending' and he calls for 'price controls to be lifted' around the world, because "It is time for Canadians and others to pay their fair share."
Chapter 13 is the chocolate nugget of the book. In this chapter McKinnell lists 10 actions that he believes should be taken to reform the healthcare system in the U.S. Only one action on the list, Reform Direct-to-Consumer Advertising, is an action item for the drug industry. All the others are the responsibility of individuals, society, employers, managed care, and governments, not the pharmaceutical industry. Coincidentally, at least six actions would either benefit the pharmaceutical industry in general or highlight specific Pfizer initiatives. Rather than focus on these - you can read more about it in the Summer 2005 issue of Pharma Marketing News - I'd like to focus on Mickinnell's suggestions for reforming DTC.
Reform Direct-to-Consumer Advertising
This is the one action item mentioned in the book that applies directly to the pharmaceutical industry and can be said to require a change in the way it does business. Here's what McKinnel recommends for DTC:
* Improve communications about risk
* Provide information about alternative therapies available, including therapies that do not require a medicine
* Promote prevention and wellness, compliance with treatment regimens, and disease awareness
* Promote access to medicines and do a better job communicating about patient assistance programs
* Implement external oversight of DTC, including working with the FDA to get their views on advertisements before they are run
Mckinnell's action plan for DTC reform, however, does not go as far as some other emerging principles do. He does not suggest, for example, a 1-year moratorium on DTC for news drugs or to limit TV ads to the appropriate audience at the appropriate time of day (something that Congress may impose on ED ads). Both of these principles have been adopted by Bristol-Myers Squibb in its Direct-to-Consumer Communications Code. It should be noted, however, that McKinnell has said in another venue "No erectile dysfunction drug ads on television except for 10 pm to 6 am. I'm in favor of that." (Washingtonpost.com Viewpoint interview, 2004).
Needless to say, this book is not going to shake up the pharmaceutical industry nor does it offer much new defense against critics of the industry. It often sounds like an advertorial for Pfizer's programs. A Pfizer spokesman referred a reporter to McKinnell's book as the "best source" for the company's perspective on advertising. I wouldn't recommend it, however, as the best source for an action plan to reform drug advertising in general.
(...)
A catalyst for debate........2005-07-28
Look, there is a lot of misinformation in the media and in public forums about the pharmaceutical industry and healthcare in general. I've read and heard many stories that strike intensely emotional chords where the only purpose is to assign blame or seek out and expose the villainous (whatever moves the print I guess).
The issues in healthcare, both global and domestic, are complex. They are too complex to draw simplistic conclusions about them or apply simplistic solutions toward resolution. To add these issues in affect are intimately personal to almost everyone, almost everywhere.
We need experts who are closely related to the issues on a day-to-day basis to pull apart and reassemble our healthcare system, yes, in a pragmatic way but also with an unprecedented level of objectivity, creativity and compassion.
I believe in this book Dr. McKinnell succeeds in relaying my point above. He also provides the basic building blocks to stimulate thought and he takes us far enough down the path to suggest dramatic changes. I believe we have reached the point of dire necessity. To ignore this would be in my estimation disastrous.
READ THIS BOOK. Take the time to understand and do not draw your conclusions to quickly as some apparently have. I ask that you keep this basic thought in the back of your mind when reading: It takes on average 12 years to bring to market a new drug. Internalize this fact and apply it to your personal situation. Seek out the facts.
These are my own views, take them or leave them.
A Decent Book Raising Legitimate Questions.......2005-07-08
Like it or not, to discuss about the healthcare system this book raised some legitimate questions such as sick-care vs prevention-care, free riding on the global market, malpractice law suits, third party payment system, etc.
There are some industry and Pfizer PR stuffs in the book. Anyway, you cannot expect a current CEO of a company to suggest something that would hurt his company or industry. (By the way, Peter Rost seems to be an interesting exception. When he does this, you need to do some research on history and ask why.) Still Hank McKinnell discussed seriously about the overall structural loopholes and possible reforms of the system.
Don't simply blame the pharmaceutical industry as the only "bad" boy in the game. It's true that not everything the companies do seems "right" under the bright sunshine, but who does in capitalism? That's why the system is designed to have balances and checks, while money chasing is the ultimate incentive in the market and real life.
If you know fair amount of biomedical science, you understand how little we know and how difficult it is to develop a novel and really effective and safe treatment under current knowledge. Healthcare as a whole is a very large and complex system. Because of the sensitivity the system deals with, which is the length and quality of human lives, it is already under the toughest regulations among all industries.
If you are open to new ideas and want to seriously think about the healthcare, you may find this book useful to provide some perspectives.
MEA CULPA BY A BIG PHARMA CEO.......2005-07-05
Pfizer's CEO, Dr. Hank McKinnell has written an astonishing book in which he admits that he doesn't always believe in what he's saying [11], that drugs from Canadian pharmacies are safe [69] and that high US drug prices have nothing to do with past R&D expenses [46]. He also writes that "perhaps pharmaceuticals represent too low a percentage of total healthcare spending" [45] and he calls for "price controls to be lifted" around the world [64], because "It is time for Canadians and others to pay their fair share." [65]. He also calls for a doubling of drug patent life [185] which would result in a drastic reduction of new, low-priced generic drugs.
Dr. McKinnell starts his book with the surprising confession that he doesn't always believe in what he's saying. "They listened to my logic, but I could tell they weren't convinced, and to tell you the truth, I wasn't either." [11]
He also doesn't shy away from embarrassing facts, "Branded drug prices are anywhere from 25-100 percent more expensive in the United States." [50] He even admits, "Drugs from Canadian pharmacies are as safe as drugs from pharmacies in the United States." [69]
But his impressive mea culpa doesn't stop there. He slams everyone who makes a connection between drug prices and R&D. "It's a fallacy to suggest that our industry, or any industry, prices a product to recapture the R&D budget spent in development." [46]
Finally, in an astonishing intellectual somersault, Dr. McKinnell claims that "price controls always make prices higher in the long run." [64] And since he wants to give people lower drug prices, by eliminating price controls, he writes, "Starting with pharmaceuticals, I call for price controls to be lifted in Canada and elsewhere." [64]
Dr. McKinnell ends his book with a wonderful quote by Gandhi, for those who desire change. "First they ignore you. Then they laugh at you. Then they fight you. Then you win." [193] Dr. McKinnell just doesn't realize that he has become "them."
Dr. Peter Rost is a Vice President of Marketing at Pfizer. The views expressed here are his own opinions.
[ ]: Page number in "A Call to Action."
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