Procrit, developed by Amgen and licensed to pharmaceutical giant Johnson & Johnson, seemed to be a miraculous blood booster. Sold under the brand names Procrit, Epogen, and Aranesp, the drug soon generated billions in annual revenue—and still does.
Enter Mark Duxbury, a star salesman for Johnson & Johnson’s new division, Ortho Biotech, and a passionate promoter of the drug. But as biased marketing studies, doctor payments, off-label promotions and dangerous dosing put patients’ lives at risk, Duxbury turned whistleblower, a decision that leads to jaw-dropping consequences as millions of patients’ lives hang in the balance.
A True Story of Big-Pharma Greed
With Deadly Consequences
Blood Feud superbly details the bitter war between Big Pharma giants Amgen and Johnson & Johnson, and their unmitigated corporate greed to push the “miracle” drug “epo.” The war encompassed financial kickbacks to doctors, bribes and Medicare fraud, with patients doubling as unwitting guinea pigs for high doses of the dangerous drug. Written by acclaimed author and award-winning investigative journalist Kathleen Sharp, the story unfolds as a real-life thriller, with events described through the eyes of Mark Duxbury, a J&J sales rep who risks it all to become a whistleblower. This shocking story, now unfolding in a federal court, will leave you astounded at the waste, fraud and danger lurking in America’s dysfunctional healthcare system–and the stubborn power of one seemingly ordinary man.
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