“Blood Feud rivals A Civil Action for best non-fiction book of the past twenty years.” — John Lescroart, New York Times bestselling author of Damage
Procrit seemed like a biotech miracle, promising a golden age in medical care. Developed in the 1980s by Amgen and licensed to the pharmaceutical giant, Johnson & Johnson, the drug (AKA Epogen and Aranesp) soon generated billions in annual revenue—and still does. In 2012, world famous cyclist, Olympian, and Tour de France champion Lance Armstrong was banned from professional cycling on doping charges for using EPO (the blanket name for the drugs Procrit and Epogen), resulting in a global controversy about abuse, big pharmaceutical companies, and the lies and inaccuracies concerning performance-enhancing drugs.
Mark Duxbury was a J&J salesman who once believed in the blood-booster, setting record sales and winning company awards. Then Duxbury started to learn unsavory truths about Procrit and J&J’s business practices. He was fired and filed a whistleblower suit to warn the public.
When Jan Schlichtman (A Civil Action) learned of Duxbury’s crusade, he signed on. Now, he’s fighting on behalf of cancer patients and for every American who trusts Big Pharma with his life.
Prologue 1
Part I
1 Meet and Greet 7
2 The Deal 24
3 Medicine Road 41
4 Raise the Stakes 54
5 The Cancer Indication 66
6 Chosen One 82
Part II
7 The Deposition 101
8 On the Border 112
9 Blues 129
10 Quality of Life 148
11 Gaslighting 164
12 The Overdose Plan 177
Part III
13 The Millionaires' Club 197
14 "Strength for Living" 219
15 Code Mistress 234
16 The Arbitrator 257
17 For the King 273
18 Black Ops 289
19 The Eleventh Hour 303
Part IV
20 Twice Saved 319
21 Miracle-Gro 335
22 Brothers 355
23 As the World Spins 369
24 The Burden 384
Notes 401
Acknowledgments 423
Index 425
Overview
“Blood Feud rivals A Civil Action for best non-fiction book of the past twenty years.” — John Lescroart, New York Times bestselling author of Damage
Procrit seemed like a biotech miracle, promising a golden age in medical care. Developed in the 1980s by Amgen and licensed to the pharmaceutical giant, Johnson & Johnson, the drug (AKA Epogen and Aranesp) soon generated billions in annual revenue—and still does. In 2012, world famous cyclist, Olympian, and Tour de France ...