Orphan Drugs

Jan Todd was considered by many to be the strongest woman in the world back in the 1970s. She set world records, lifted the Dinnie Stones in Scotland, and wrote the first rulebook for women's powerlifting. Then she became a historian, and uncovered a lost generation of strong wom ... Show More

On August 20th, 1857 a ship set sail from the Port of San Francisco with 600 people and thousands of pounds of gold. That gold was destined for the vaults of New York City banks, but it never made it. Instead, the ship sank to the bottom of the ocean, taking all that gold with it ... Show More

Across the West, there's a contentious debate playing out over how to adapt homes and neighborhoods to this era of increasingly extreme wildfire risk. In Berkeley, California, it's become a particularly emotional fight because of a very specific architectural history that began a ... Show More

In the first of two episodes this week, we're taking a deep dive into the pharmaceutical industry. How much does the medication you take actually cost? What if a company came along and bought the rights to a particular drug and started charging double, triple, or even 10,000 time ... Show More

When you get hurt, you go to a doctor. But what do you do when your doctor’s prescriptions turn you into an opioid addict? Johnny Simon and Tim Cronin tried one of the first legal battles in America to hold physicians accountable for over-prescribing opioids. And they won. Johnny ... Show More

This is a story of desperation, anger, poverty—and triumph over long odds to crack the code of a degenerative disease that had been stealing the lives of children since it was first discovered more than a century ago. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices 

<p>In the 1950s, Thalidomide was rolled out very quickly and what followed was a tragic story that highlighted perils of greed and hidden agendas. This week on Sawbones, Dr. Sydnee and Justin attempt to untangle this murky narrative, and highlight the doctor who heroically kept t ... Show More

At the beginning of the 20th century, new medications were being discovered and created. The term ‘miracle drug’ was coined to describe the sudden positive effect of newly discovered remedies for once untreatable diseases and conditions. But, one person's cure can be another pers ... Show More

<p>In this episode, Pharmageddon, we plunge into the depths of the pharmaceutical underworld, exposing a web of corruption, clandestine dealings, and the puppet masters behind Big Pharma. The narrative unfolds as investigative journalists peel back layers of secrecy, revealing a ... Show More