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Reviews
The Drug Hunters: The Improbable Quest to Discover New Medicines by Ogi Ogas, Donald R. Kirsch
hectaizani's review against another edition
3.0
I found this book really enjoyable to listen to, I liked hearing all about how new drugs are discovered. Sometimes on purpose and sometimes by accident. I had never heard the story behind the birth control pill before.
wangx0800's review against another edition
5.0
Very informing and also very entertaining book. A systematic overview with many fascinating stories on how drugs were found. Wish the authors had included more scientific and medical materials in the book, if they did, I feel the book would be more like Emperor of Maladies
free_the_bookshelf's review against another edition
5.0
I didn't think I would be so interested in this topic, but I couldn't NOT finish this book. If you want some fun medical knowledge and some cool history, this is a great choice.
jake_wont_shut_up's review against another edition
5.0
A simple, concise history of our search for new drug treatments. Should be a must read for anyone who wonders why drugs are so expensive and why research isn't going to things that matter more to them personally. Granted, this won't answer EVERY question, I did say simple and concise, but it's a very good starting point to understanding medication.
alexgmcm's review against another edition
5.0
An excellent review of drug discovery throughout history. The chapter on the discovery of the contraceptive pill was especially good.
Strongly recommend.
Strongly recommend.
dianemagnin's review against another edition
4.0
4/5
This book was very informative on the history of drug discovery and manufacture, and how it ties into many important milestones in the general history of medicine and, when relevant, of socio-politics.
I especially enjoyed learning about the people behind the inventions of many important medicines, what their motives had been, and how weird some of these people were.
I really enjoyed the author's writing style, and found the book very engrossing to read. I also respect that he discloses his ties to Big Pharma right from the start to admit his bias, and still tries to remain impartial and offers many critiques of his sector. He admits both the benefits and the frustrations of working within such an institution, which I found really enlightening.
However, it's definitely still skewered in favour of Big Pharma (which is fine, good to know what good it does too), and though he wrote a chapter on insulin, he never mentioned the horrific consequences Big Pharma lobbying had on the distribution of insulin, and why so many Americans must go broke trying to pay for this drug which was originally FREE in the USA. I felt that that was a pretty big detail to leave out since his book does delve into drug politics quite a bit otherwise.
But, overall, this was a SUPER interesting read, and I now marvel at the meds I took mostly for granted!!
This book was very informative on the history of drug discovery and manufacture, and how it ties into many important milestones in the general history of medicine and, when relevant, of socio-politics.
I especially enjoyed learning about the people behind the inventions of many important medicines, what their motives had been, and how weird some of these people were.
I really enjoyed the author's writing style, and found the book very engrossing to read. I also respect that he discloses his ties to Big Pharma right from the start to admit his bias, and still tries to remain impartial and offers many critiques of his sector. He admits both the benefits and the frustrations of working within such an institution, which I found really enlightening.
However, it's definitely still skewered in favour of Big Pharma (which is fine, good to know what good it does too), and though he wrote a chapter on insulin, he never mentioned the horrific consequences Big Pharma lobbying had on the distribution of insulin, and why so many Americans must go broke trying to pay for this drug which was originally FREE in the USA. I felt that that was a pretty big detail to leave out since his book does delve into drug politics quite a bit otherwise.
But, overall, this was a SUPER interesting read, and I now marvel at the meds I took mostly for granted!!