Contact

Jerry Avorn’s long-term experience and prolific accomplishments as a physician, teacher, mentor, and advocate for effective, safe, and affordable drug therapy place him in an excellent position to provide knowledgeable analyses of the benefits, risks, and tragedies with respect to the use of medications, as well as the economic, political, and other factors that influence their development, approval, cost, and marketing. Recommendations (e.g., empowering the patient, shaping the prescribers of tomorrow) are also included. Although the curricula of pharmacy and medical schools are so intense/overloaded, a required reading list (perhaps as a component of a journal club) would be of great value in expanding the awareness of students of relevant and important experiences and issues. Rethinking Medications should be required reading!

– Dan Hussar, PhD, Professor and Dean Emeritus, Philadelphia College of Pharmacy, in The Pharmacist Activist | June 2025

Spoonful of Sugar and Pepper for Medication Safety and Efficacy

Excellent. An engaging and informative story that laid out the impact of misaligned incentives and flawed policies that effect medication availability in the US and importantly provided a sensible path towards improving the process. Well done.

– PAJF | June 3, 2025

Jerry At His Best!

Jerry’s writing bounces off of the page. Whether you read this or you download the audiobook, you’re in for a treat. His thoughtful prose fuses humor, wisdom, story-telling, analogy, and years of experience in medicine into a book whose pages turn themselves. Even if you’re not in the field of medicine or health, this is a compelling read–and it weaves in medical history as well as the history of how medications have been viewed, studied, promoted, and how the goal and focus should be on the PATIENT. Pick up this thoughtful book, or check out his 1st book–both are an adventure and you’ll walk away thinking in new ways about the ways we develop, study, promote, and take drugs.

– BeeAmira | May 29, 2025

How Health Care Goes Astray

In Rethinking Medications, Jerry Avorn recounts the bizarre processes behind the development, approval, and use of the medicines we depend on. When we fill our prescriptions and take our medicine, we are bolstered by our confidence that scientists, doctors and regulators at the FDA are all looking out for us, ensuring that these drugs are safe and effective. But are they? From his ringside seat through many of the key events, Avorn reveals in this eye-opener why our confidence may be misplaced. He also pulls back the curtain on the reasons for overpriced medicines, the privatization of health care, the denial of insurance claims, the scarcity of primary care, and other health care tribulations. This book is the story of health care gone astray, threaded by the sliver of hope that good sense will ultimately set us straight.

– MovingAverage | May 28, 2025

Avorn is to Big Pharma as Melville was to Big Whale

Everyone who relies on prescription medications — and, let’s face it, that’s nearly all of us— realizes that the pharmaceutical system is broken. This book explains what’s wrong with how we develop, evaluate, prescribe, and determine the price of medications. It’s a must read, from an author who’s been present at Ground Zero throughout and is not afraid to name names. Happily Dr. Avorn is also a gifted writer — lucid, witty, engaging — so his book is a delight to read. In Rethinking Medications, Jerry Avorn does for the pharmaceutical industry what Herman Melville did for whaling — and Dr. Avorn knows exactly where to aim his harpoon.

– Donald K. | May 27, 2025

Read and Discuss

An accessible read for the medical community and anyone who takes any kind of medication which means everyone. Was pleasantly surprised by the transparency and truth telling which was so inspiring. An added bonus is the call to action with practical steps provided at the end for decision making and advocacy. Great for book clubs.

– D. Bussey  | May 27, 2025

Entertains and Clarifies While Addressing a Topic We All Need to Understand Better

Dr. Acorn’s insights, humor, and “stick-to-it-iveness” deserve our respect … nay, awe! … but it is his readable writing, his turns of phrase, and his ability to ferret out the coolest questions about healthcare that had me turning pages incessantly. This book is the first since “House of God” to blow open the secrets of healthcare in a compelling and true, scholarly and experiential way

– Amazon Customer | May 26, 2025

Essential Reading on Medicine and Policy

Dr. Jerry Avorn’s Rethinking Medications is an eye-opening and timely exploration of how America’s drug approval and healthcare systems have drifted away from prioritizing patient safety, effectiveness, and affordability. Drawing on decades of experience at Harvard Medical School, Avorn exposes how pharmaceutical industry influence, regulatory shortcuts, and profit-driven healthcare can lead to poorly evaluated and overpriced medications entering the market. The book combines compelling stories—from cancer drugs to opioids and psychedelics—with practical steps for consumers, practitioners, and policymakers to demand better standards and transparency. Avorn’s clear, evidence-based approach encourages readers to ask more questions about the medications they take and to advocate for reforms that put public health above industry profits. This is essential reading for anyone concerned about the future of medicine and the integrity of our healthcare system.

– Graham T. | May 25, 2025

Everyone Should Read This Book Before Making Healthcare Decisions!

I typically read only fiction but this book was recommended by a friend in the medical field and it is totally readable and also, mind-blowing. As I read it, I kept thinking, why don’t people like me know this stuff? We buy medications and take them in good faith not knowing where they came from, how they got to us and how the cost was determined. Rethinking Medications has me rethinking a lot of things regarding my health and the health of my loved ones.

– Donna F. | May 25, 2025

Everything You Need to Know About Big Pharma and How It Affects You

Rethinking Medications is a compelling memoir that provides an inside view of corruption within the pharmaceutical industry and a government that has, at times, enabled that corruption. Drawing from his decades of experience as a doctor and researcher, Dr. Avorn explains complicated and technical issues in a way that is understandable to the average reader. He also offers practical tips for patients to better advocate for themselves and make smarter choices with their doctor. It’s an eye-opening and worthwhile read. Highly recommend!

– Annie F. | May 25, 2025

Awesome Overview and Perspective

This is a great overview of how medications get approved, the history of how policies have shaped the process, the role of the FDA, and your thoughts on how things might evolve in the future. I’ve been listening to it on Audible, and it’s particularly insightful to hear these perspectives directly from Jerry. Nicely done!

– Tony D. | May 25, 2025