logo
episode-header-image
Mar 2024
53m 19s

Long Reads: Big Pharma's Toxic Record w/...

JACOBIN
About this episode

From the HIV/AIDS crisis, to the opioid epidemic, to the COVID-19 pandemic, pharmaceutical corporations have been accused of profiteering at the expense of countless lives. Nick Dearden, director of Global Justice Now and the author of a new book called Pharmanomics: How Big Pharma Destroys Public Health, joins Long Reads to discuss an industry that exploits public research and denies crucial medicine to poor countries.


Read another interview with Nick on the Jacobin website, "Big Pharma Reaps Massive Profits by Ripping Off Public Research and Weaponizing Patents": https://jacobin.com/2024/01/big-pharma-profit-public-research-patents-intellectual-property


Long Reads is a Jacobin podcast looking in-depth at political topics and thinkers, both contemporary and historical, with the magazine’s longform writers. Hosted by features editor Daniel Finn. Produced by Conor Gillies, music by Knxwledge.



Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Up next
Yesterday
Behind the News: Bourgeois Attire w/ Derek Guy
Osita Nwanevu, author of The Right of the People, examines the flaws of US democracy — and some cures. Derek Guy outlines the evolution of upper-class men’s dress over the decades. Behind the News, hosted by Doug Henwood, covers the worlds of economics and politics and their comp ... Show More
53m 1s
Aug 21
Long Reads: Iran Under Fire w/ Eskandar Sadeghi-Boroujerdi
The war that Benjamin Netanyahu launched against Iran in June killed hundreds of Iranian civilians. After pleading with Donald Trump to intervene on his behalf, Netanyahu even managed to anger his patron in Washington. Still, the possibility of a second Israeli attack on Iran rem ... Show More
1h 2m
Aug 20
Jacobin Radio: The Legacy of Revolutionary Ukraine w/ Vladyslav Starodubtsev
Ukrainian left activist, historian, and soldier Vladyslav Starodubtsev joins Suzi to connect two moments, separated by more than a century, in the fight for Ukrainian self-determination. We begin with the Trump–Putin Alaska photo op summit on August 15th, an attempt to decide Ukr ... Show More
1h 25m
Recommended Episodes
Sep 2023
Downstream: Big Pharma’s Secrets w/ Nick Dearden
Nick Dearden has been an economic justice campaigner for over 20 years, and his attention was on the pharmaceutical industry when Covid-19 hit. But as the world began to sing the praises of pharmaceutical companies, Nick saw an unprecedented PR coup. Giant corporations capitalise ... Show More
1h 19m
Sep 2023
Why One Drug Company Held Back a Better Drug
For decades, drugmakers have argued that patents are critical to bringing new drugs to the market. But in 2004, when a promising H.I.V. treatment emerged, Gilead Sciences decided to slow-walk its release to maximize profit on the company’s existing patents.Rebecca Robbins, who co ... Show More
35m 38s
Jul 2023
Sawbones: Patents vs. Life-Saving Drugs
John Green recently made a video asking Johnson & Johnson not to extend their patent on a tuberculosis drug, which would keep it exclusive and expensive. Dr. Sydnee and Justin talk about how drug patents work, the recent (good) update about bedaquiline specifically, and the next ... Show More
38m 46s
Oct 2021
Sick Money (Pt 2): How Big Pharma made a killing from the pandemic
The second of two episodes this week, taking a deep dive into the pharmaceutical industry.Big drug companies have won plaudits for their work producing Covid vaccines within a year of the start of the pandemic. How much money are they making from them? And why are vaccines for ot ... Show More
24m 39s
Sep 2023
Will Big Pharma Ever Face Justice for the Opioid Crisis?
The Supreme Court recently blocked a bankruptcy deal that would have given full immunity to the members of the Sackler family who once controlled Purdue Pharma, the maker of OxyContin. Trevor Noah calls out the frustrating contradictions within the initial deal and shares his tho ... Show More
25m 31s
Oct 2021
Long Covid and the Blind Spots of American Medicine
One of the most frightening, least understood aspects of the coronavirus pandemic is what’s come to be known as “long Covid.” Stories abound of young, healthy adults who experienced mild or asymptomatic coronavirus infections and recovered fairly quickly, only to experience an on ... Show More
1h 24m
May 2024
This Is a Very Weird Moment in the History of Drug Laws
Drug policy feels very unsettled right now. The war on drugs was a failure. But so far, the war on the war on drugs hasn’t entirely been a success, either.Take Oregon. In 2020, it became the first state in the nation to decriminalize hard drugs. It was a paradigm shift — treating ... Show More
1h 2m
Feb 2022
How Big Pharma Corrupts Medical Knowledge – Dr. John Abramson : 901
WE APPRECIATE OUR PARTNERS. CHECK THEM OUT!Apple Cider Vinegar Benefits: https://paleovalley.com/DAVE, use code DAVE to get 15% off your first orderMattress Temperature Tech: https://www.eightsleep.com/dave, use code DAVE to save $250 on the Pod ProNon-Tobacco Nicotine Alternativ ... Show More
1h 20m
Dec 2022
Babbage: What causes long covid?
Soon after the pandemic began, another health crisis started to emerge. Long covid now affects millions of people around the world. But finding the causes of the condition—and how to treat it—has been a challenge. Three years after the SARS-CoV-2 virus was first detected, are sci ... Show More
38m 46s