Reviews
The Drug Hunters: The Improbable Quest to Discover New Medicines by Ogi Ogas, Donald R. Kirsch
wangx0800's review against another edition
5.0
Very informing and also very entertaining book. A systematic overview with many fascinating stories on how drugs were found. Wish the authors had included more scientific and medical materials in the book, if they did, I feel the book would be more like Emperor of Maladies
free_the_bookshelf's review against another edition
5.0
I didn't think I would be so interested in this topic, but I couldn't NOT finish this book. If you want some fun medical knowledge and some cool history, this is a great choice.
jake_wont_shut_up's review against another edition
5.0
A simple, concise history of our search for new drug treatments. Should be a must read for anyone who wonders why drugs are so expensive and why research isn't going to things that matter more to them personally. Granted, this won't answer EVERY question, I did say simple and concise, but it's a very good starting point to understanding medication.
alexgmcm's review against another edition
5.0
An excellent review of drug discovery throughout history. The chapter on the discovery of the contraceptive pill was especially good.
Strongly recommend.
Strongly recommend.
hectaizani's review against another edition
3.0
I found this book really enjoyable to listen to, I liked hearing all about how new drugs are discovered. Sometimes on purpose and sometimes by accident. I had never heard the story behind the birth control pill before.
dianemagnin's review against another edition
4.0
4/5
This book was very informative on the history of drug discovery and manufacture, and how it ties into many important milestones in the general history of medicine and, when relevant, of socio-politics.
I especially enjoyed learning about the people behind the inventions of many important medicines, what their motives had been, and how weird some of these people were.
I really enjoyed the author's writing style, and found the book very engrossing to read. I also respect that he discloses his ties to Big Pharma right from the start to admit his bias, and still tries to remain impartial and offers many critiques of his sector. He admits both the benefits and the frustrations of working within such an institution, which I found really enlightening.
However, it's definitely still skewered in favour of Big Pharma (which is fine, good to know what good it does too), and though he wrote a chapter on insulin, he never mentioned the horrific consequences Big Pharma lobbying had on the distribution of insulin, and why so many Americans must go broke trying to pay for this drug which was originally FREE in the USA. I felt that that was a pretty big detail to leave out since his book does delve into drug politics quite a bit otherwise.
But, overall, this was a SUPER interesting read, and I now marvel at the meds I took mostly for granted!!
This book was very informative on the history of drug discovery and manufacture, and how it ties into many important milestones in the general history of medicine and, when relevant, of socio-politics.
I especially enjoyed learning about the people behind the inventions of many important medicines, what their motives had been, and how weird some of these people were.
I really enjoyed the author's writing style, and found the book very engrossing to read. I also respect that he discloses his ties to Big Pharma right from the start to admit his bias, and still tries to remain impartial and offers many critiques of his sector. He admits both the benefits and the frustrations of working within such an institution, which I found really enlightening.
However, it's definitely still skewered in favour of Big Pharma (which is fine, good to know what good it does too), and though he wrote a chapter on insulin, he never mentioned the horrific consequences Big Pharma lobbying had on the distribution of insulin, and why so many Americans must go broke trying to pay for this drug which was originally FREE in the USA. I felt that that was a pretty big detail to leave out since his book does delve into drug politics quite a bit otherwise.
But, overall, this was a SUPER interesting read, and I now marvel at the meds I took mostly for granted!!
drifterontherun's review against another edition
3.0
If you've ever wanted to learn the history of your favorite pharmaceutical drug, this is the book for you.
Donald Kirsch is a "drug hunter," meaning that he's one of the few people who gets funding from a big pharmaceutical company to try and test out cures for what ails you. The likelihood of that drug actually being effective is very low, and the likelihood of its being effective and then managing to get approval is highly improbable. To hear Kirsch tell it, "drug hunting" sounds like a pretty depressing profession to be in if you actually like to see your work bear fruit.
Kirsch does a nice job writing this in an easy to understand way that doesn't descend into scientific jargon, which it easily could have. It's very pop science, with each chapter devoted to telling the story of a particular drug, from aspirin to penicillin to The Pill.
You may have heard some variant of these stories before, but there is some new information here. For example, the fact that the creator of aspirin was Jewish but had the bad luck of making his findings in Nazi-controlled Germany which meant that his name essentially got scrubbed from the record books.
Something else that gets you thinking is just how many drugs relied at least in part on animal testing, without which one wonders just how long it would have taken for many of these drugs to get approval.
Kirsch, of course, is a sort of freelancer for Big Pharma, so there is unfortunately little here that is critical of the industry. But this isn't a book that claims to show how Big Pharma is screwing its customers, so I gave that a pass.
This is basically How New Medicines Get Made 101. If you go in knowing that and not expecting much else, you'll enjoy this.
Donald Kirsch is a "drug hunter," meaning that he's one of the few people who gets funding from a big pharmaceutical company to try and test out cures for what ails you. The likelihood of that drug actually being effective is very low, and the likelihood of its being effective and then managing to get approval is highly improbable. To hear Kirsch tell it, "drug hunting" sounds like a pretty depressing profession to be in if you actually like to see your work bear fruit.
Kirsch does a nice job writing this in an easy to understand way that doesn't descend into scientific jargon, which it easily could have. It's very pop science, with each chapter devoted to telling the story of a particular drug, from aspirin to penicillin to The Pill.
You may have heard some variant of these stories before, but there is some new information here. For example, the fact that the creator of aspirin was Jewish but had the bad luck of making his findings in Nazi-controlled Germany which meant that his name essentially got scrubbed from the record books.
Something else that gets you thinking is just how many drugs relied at least in part on animal testing, without which one wonders just how long it would have taken for many of these drugs to get approval.
Kirsch, of course, is a sort of freelancer for Big Pharma, so there is unfortunately little here that is critical of the industry. But this isn't a book that claims to show how Big Pharma is screwing its customers, so I gave that a pass.
This is basically How New Medicines Get Made 101. If you go in knowing that and not expecting much else, you'll enjoy this.
bad_books's review against another edition
4.0
It feels so fucking good to finish a book after so long. I don't know what happened.
Biotechnology is my favorite thing in the world, so it shouldn't have taken me three weeks to breeze through 240 pages, but alas. Still a great book, a book great enough to push me through half a year of unfinished books.
Biotechnology is my favorite thing in the world, so it shouldn't have taken me three weeks to breeze through 240 pages, but alas. Still a great book, a book great enough to push me through half a year of unfinished books.