Why do life-saving prescription drugs cost so much?
Drug companies insist that prices reflect the millions
they invest in research and development. In this
gripping expose, Merrill Goozner contends that American
taxpayers are in fact footing the bill twice: once by
supporting government-funded research and again by
paying astronomically high prices for prescription drugs.
Goozner demonstrates that almost all the important new
drugs of the past quarter-century actually originated
from research at taxpayer-funded universities and at
the National Institutes of Health. He reports that
once the innovative work is over, the pharmaceutical
industry often steps in to reap the profit.

Goozner shows how drug innovation is driven by
dedicated scientists intent on finding cures for diseases,
not by pharmaceutical firms whose bottom line often takes
precedence over the advance of medicine. A university
biochemist who spent twenty years searching for a single
blood protein that later became the best-selling biotech
drug in the world, a government employee who discovered
the causes for dozens of crippling genetic disorders, and
the Department of Energy-funded research that made the
Human Genome Project possible--these engrossing accounts
illustrate how medical breakthroughs actually take place.

The $800 Million Pill suggests ways that the government's
role in testing new medicines could be expanded to
eliminate the private sector waste driving up the cost of
existing drugs. Pharmaceutical firms should be compelled
to refocus their human and financial resources on true
medical innovation, Goozner insists. This book is
essential reading for everyone concerned about the
politically charged topics of drug pricing, Medicare
coverage, national health care, and the role of
pharmaceutical companies in developing countries.

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