"When reporter Gardiner Harris met a woman at an airport bar whose entire family has been shattered by her nephew's use of the drug Risperdal, one she sold to his doctor as a drug sales rep, he began to wonder how many similar stories are out there. This was in 2004, and since then, Harris has been investigating one of the largest players in Big Pharma, continuously reporting on it despite simultaneous landmark journalistic accomplishments, like exposing the extremely toxic mining conditions ignored by coal companies. For decades, pharmaceutical giant Johnson & Johnson was seen as a paragon of ethical conduct, especially considering the company's child-friendly products like baby powder and tearless shampoo. However, Harris has uncovered reams of evidence of deceitful and dangerous corporate practices that reveal a historic threat to the health of the American public. He covers several disasters: tissue death caused by J & J's touted hip replacements, their coverup of baby powder's linkage to cancer, the teen-directed marketing of the life-altering drug Risperdal, and more. The Hatch-Waxman Bill, which is meant to pave the way for lower-priced generic drugs, passed in 1984, and inadvertently created loopholes in the drug approval process which allowed urgency and profit maximization to take precedence over diligence and patient protection. Johnson & Johnson's subsequent lack of oversight, money-grubbing, and flat out lies have resulted in the death or serious injury of millions of people. To many, the peril of falsified science seems distant, but Harris reveals how a combination of misrepresented data and bribe culture directly impact doctors' decisions-which are devastatingly revealed to be not at all in the interests of patients."-- Provided by publisher.

Introduction: A quintessentially American company -- Part I: Consumer products. Section I: Trust from birth. An emotional bond ; Three brothers go to New Brunswick, 1860-1968 -- Section II: Johnson's baby powder. Mineral twins ; The FDA conducts a survey ; Birth of the modern FDA ; The power of pressure ; A meeting at a Harvard hospital ; Secrecy is a top priority ; A sacred cow -- Section III: Tylenol. An infamous crime, the birth of a myth ; Problems with the narrative ; Never an adversarial relationship ; The cost of doing business -- Part II: Prescription drugs. A valley of death in drug discovery -- Section IV: Procrit. The first great biotech franchise is born ; How giving cash to doctors became good business ; J & J's biggest-selling drug ; A brave researcher breaks the silence ; Miracle-Gro for cancer -- Section V: Risperdal. A path of a normal life ; A treatment for everything and everyone ; Serious red flags ; A big target ; Ice cream and popcorn parties ; A turning point ; One of the most alarming warnings ; They knew they were a good company -- Section VI: Duragesic. An epidemic foretold ; Opium blossoms in Tasmania ; Less prone to abuse ; Evolve the value discussion -- Section VII: Ortho Evra birth control patch. The pill and the patch -- Part III: Medical devices. The FDA goes looking for a savior -- Section VIII: Pinnacle metal-on-metal hip implant. Two terrible dilemmas ; God, Nazis, and hip implants ; Never stop moving -- Section IX: Prolift vaginal mesh. A cure for sag ; "Usually minor and well manageable" -- Part VI: Vaccination. Section X: COVID. A rare shot a redemption -- Acknowledments -- Notes -- Index.