Marsha, RN, MN“Mr. Mix’s well-researched book is a wake-up call for all consumers, Congress, the pharmaceutical industry and the FDA. While structural flaws are preventing the FDA and pharmaceutical companies from putting consumers’ safety first, money, greed, unrealistic timelines and blind faith are also important factors. As per the author, the fox is guarding the henhouse! No longer should we feel secure that a drug is safe, simply because it has been approved by the FDA. Alarmingly, some unsafe drugs have been withdrawn from the market in Canada and the U.K. years before being withdrawn in the U.S.”
“One of Mr. Mix’s most important messages is that consumers must not rely solely on information they obtain from their pharmacist, physician, nurse, or pharmaceutical company, as information provided from each is often inadequate. The consumer needs to assume responsibility to read the information provided, ask questions and be aware of potential drug interactions/incompatibilities. Even Tylenol, aspirin and NSAIDS must be taken with care and DO cause serious side effects such as liver failure, bleeding and cardio-vascular complications respectively, when taken excessively or incorrectly.”
“To the F.D.A., pharmaceutical industry and Congress: read this book and take heed of Mr. Mix’s suggestions to improve safety and better protect the consumer! Lives could be saved!”
American Guinea Pig
Everything That’s Wrong with the FDA and How to Avoid Becoming One of its Victims
Booklocker.com, Inc. · 2012 · ISBN: 978-1-61434-757-6
230,000 Americans die every year from prescription drugs. You were never told. There’s a reason.
A trial attorney’s exposé on the broken system of drug testing and FDA oversight that turns ordinary patients into unwitting test subjects. Names. Numbers. Documents. And a roadmap for how 100,000 lives and $100 billion could be saved every year — if anyone in Washington wanted to.
Silver · 2013 Nautilus Book Awards · Finalist · 2012 Foreword Magazine Book of the Year · Honorable Mention · New York · New England · Los Angeles · London Book Festivals
Synopsis
“230,000 Americans die every single year as a consequence of the use of legally purchased drugs.”
That is not a typo. Prescription and over-the-counter drugs now rank as the third leading cause of death in the United States, trailing only heart disease and cancer. In five years, they kill more than a million of us. And the agency you trust to stop it — the FDA — has become “the drug industry’s partner in a marriage that was not made in heaven.”
In American Guinea Pig, veteran trial attorney Terence Mix rips the curtain back on one of the deadliest open secrets in modern medicine. After decades of litigating against Big Pharma, he names names — Vioxx (up to 56,000 dead), Baycol, Avandia, Paxil, Bextra, Neurontin, Lotronex, Cylert — and shows exactly how lethal side effects were known inside corporate walls years before a single pill reached your pharmacy.
As Merck’s own research chief admitted internally about Vioxx’s heart attack risk: “clearly there.” The company’s answer? A training document ordering sales reps to “DODGE!” tough questions from doctors.
Legendary trial lawyer Gerry Spence calls it “a wake-up call… literally a life-saver.”
This is the fox guarding the henhouse. Drug companies design their own safety studies. The FDA is funded by the very industry it polices. Reviews are rushed. Warnings are buried. And you become the experiment.
But this book is not just exposé. It is a survival manual.
Mix hands you the playbook the industry does not want you to have:
- Why you should never take a new drug in its first three years
- The exact questions to ask your doctor and pharmacist before swallowing a single pill
- How to access the adverse-event data the FDA is sitting on right now
- The reforms Congress must pass before the body count climbs higher
Your medicine cabinet is not safe. Your doctor does not know what you’re about to read.
Open this book before you open that bottle.
Awards & Recognition
American Guinea Pig received Silver from the 2013 Nautilus Book Awards, was a Finalist for the 2012 Foreword Magazine Book of the Year, and received Honorable Mentions from the New York, New England, Los Angeles, and London Book Festivals.
Reader Reviews
Rx“I just finished reading American Guinea Pig. This is an important book for anyone who has ever taken a prescription drug or even something seemingly benign as an Aleve. Most of us rely on our physicians and pharmacists to protect us from harm due to the medications we are taking.”
“Congress needs to completely overhaul the FDA. Perhaps lead by Senator Grassley. I hope he will read your book. As you state, the actions and inactions of the FDA have been going on for decades. Even now, the evening news delivers stories on the harmful effects of drugs such as Zithromax, an antibiotic sold for 20 years that can cause fatal heart problems.”
“Congratulations on the publication of your book. I wish you much success in getting this information into the hands of patients, physicians, pharmacists, and most of all our government.”
Bobby“This book is eye-opening. It’s extremely well written and explains a complicated subject matter in a very coherent manner. It sheds light on the troublesome relationship between the FDA and big pharma companies — an issue too many people are unfamiliar with. If you use prescription pharmaceuticals, this book is a must read.”