Bad Pharma

In reality, drug trials are often profoundly flawed and skewed toward favorable outcomes. Doctors who prescribe everything from antidepressants to cancer drugs to heart medication are not familiar with the research literature about a drug, because much of the research is hidden from them by drug companies. Much of a doctor's education is funded by the pharmaceutical industry, and those companies have the power to exclude negative data from their reports to the FDA. The organization tasked with approving drugs for public use—the FDA—approves useless drugs, withholding damning data on side effects from doctors and patients alike.