Being an Informed Patient

— We have a responsibility to explain to patients how policy changes may transform their care It's traditionally been frowned upon for us doctors to talk with patients about voting. But at a time of growing crisis in healthcare, clinicians now face an important decision in the exam room. Should we override the conventional prohibition against bringing up political issues with the people we're caring for? In these times, I'd argue that we can -- we must -- do so to fulfil our

The Nobel Prize in Chemistry has been awarded for elegant work on the “handedness” of molecules. The prize went to Henri Kagan and Kenso Soai for their pathfinding work on the creation of isomers – mirror-image versions of the same compound that can exist as either its “left-handed” or “right-handed” version, or isomer. It was an accomplishment never before achieved “other than [by] life itself,” in the words of the Nobel Committee. The former version of a molecule is often d

Jerry Avorn, Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School, presented an analysis of the U.S. healthcare system's challenges regarding medication affordability, highlighting three core areas: policy, payment, and prescribing (3:30-18:40). The Problem of "American Exceptionalism" (3:30-5:30): U.S. drug prices are approximately double those in other wealthy nations for the same products. This leads to significant non-adherence; roughly half of chronic medications are not take

Harlan Krumholz & Howard Forman, Yale Medical School | Health & Veritas Podcast. In a Wide-Ranging Interview, Dr. Jerry Avorn Explains How the Drug Marketing Machine Works — and How to Counter It Source: Health & Veritas, Yale School of Management, Episode 195, November 13, 2025 In a November 2025 episode of Health & Veritas — the Yale School of Management podcast hosted by physicians Howard Forman and Harlan Krumholz — Jerry Avorn, MD, sat down for an extended conversation c

From The National Resource Center on Academic Detailing NaRCAD. In a thought piece published on the NaRCAD blog in October 2025, Jerry Avorn, MD — Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School, co-founder of NaRCAD, and author of Rethinking Medications — argues that the concept of "provenance" has become the defining challenge for evidence-based medicine in the current political moment. Dr. Avorn opens by tracing the word itself. "Provenance," he explains, means the source

From NPR's On Point. By Meghna Chakrabarti. In this October 2025 episode of WBUR's On Point, Dr. Jerry Avorn joins host Meghna Chakrabarti and Sarah Emond, president and CEO of the Institute for Clinical and Economic Review (ICER), to dissect the Trump administration's TrumpRx initiative, analyze the deals struck with Pfizer and AstraZeneca, and explain why the United States pays dramatically more for prescription drugs than every other wealthy nation on earth. Why Americans

From I'm a Pharmacy Podcast. By Mina Tadrous. This episode of the University of Toronto's I'm Pharmacy podcast opens with a striking image: a bus full of Americans crossing the border into Canada with Senator Bernie Sanders — not for sightseeing, but to buy insulin. The image frames the episode's central question: how did the United States end up with the most expensive prescription drug prices in the world, and what does that mean for the tens of millions of Americans who, u

From The People’s Pharmacy. Abstract "Americans spend more on drugs and have less to show for it than people in other countries. The FDA used to be the envy of the world. Has it been captured by the pharmaceutical industry it's supposed to regulate?" In this wide-ranging episode of The People's Pharmacy — one of the most substantive and practically useful interviews in the archive — Dr. Jerry Avorn joins hosts Joe and Terry Graedon for a 70-minute conversation covering the er

From American Society for Pharmacy Law (ASPL). In this special edition premiere of Post Scrip, host Henry sits down with Dr. Jerry Avorn, MD, Harvard Medical School professor and author of the groundbreaking book Rethinking Medications: Truth, Power and the Drugs You Take. Dr. Avorn, a senior internist at Mass General Brigham and author of over 600 papers, takes us on a dive into the complex world of drug approval, pricing, and pharmaceutical policy. This episode explores how

From Causes or Cures Podcast with Dr. Eeks. In this episode of Causes or Cures, Dr. Eeks chats with Dr. Jerry Avorn, a Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School, drug safety watchdog, and author of Rethinking Medications: Truth, Power, and the Drugs You Take. If you’ve ever felt uneasy about the rising cost of prescription drugs, the process or speed by which new meds are approved, or why the side effects list is longer than your grocery receipt, this episode is for you

From Kaiser Permanente Institute for Health Policy Forum. Teaser/Abstract "During the Kaiser Permanente Institute for Health Policy forum, experts discussed emerging solutions to address policies and tactics that currently enable high drug prices." Source: Kaiser Permanente Institute for Health Policy, "A Path to Fair Drug Pricing: Examining Competition, Value, and Access." In-person forum, Washington, DC, July 15, 2025. Video published July 31, 2025. Duration of full segment

From Big Brains Podcast. Teaser/Abstract "When a patient gets a medication from their doctor or nurse practitioner, they assume that somebody has looked very carefully at this drug and determined that it is indeed effective for the purposes for which it's being given to you and that it's reasonably safe. I frankly think a lot of us doctors believe that that's all kind of taken care of as well." Source: Big Brains podcast, University of Chicago Podcast Network, Episode publish

From Science-Based Policy. By David Weinberg. Teaser/Abstract "Rethinking Medications: Truth, Power, and the Drugs You Take by Jerry Avorn presents a critical appraisal of the state of the prescription medications in the United States. It explores the complex relationships among drug companies, regulators, prescribers, academics, and patients. The book is part history of US drug regulation, part critique of the status quo, and finally, a roadmap for a better path forward." S

From Changing Minds Podcast. Teaser/Abstract "How do we stay the course and stay rooted in facts amidst a major disruption impacting the healthcare landscape? 'Godfather' and originator of academic detailing Jerry Avorn joins the show to share his reflections on the current state of healthcare; the history of treatment and medications prior to rigorous study; his new book, Rethinking Medications; the critical importance of treating evidence, facts, and science as our collecti

From MedPage Today. By Jerry Avorn. Teaser/Abstract "Ideally, the approval of a new drug should be exclusively the province of science, but for a more than half-trillion-dollar-a-year industry, it couldn't possibly remain so. The same libertarian posture of the earlier twentieth century — the spirit that opposed government's right to require accurate drug labeling and prevent toxicity — lives on in the insistence by some advocates on the far right that the government shouldn'

From PBS’ Amanpour and Company. Teaser/Abstract "This week, President Trump issued an executive order aiming to reduce high prescription drug prices and insisting that drug companies ensure Americans pay the same price as other countries. Dr. Jerry Avorn is a professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School. He joins Hari Sreenivasan to discuss why the cost of medication in the U.S. is so high, and what Trump can do to bring prices down." Source: Amanpour and Company, PBS/WNET

From Substack. By Donald Kreis. Teaser/Abstract "Dr. Jerry Avorn, a professor at Harvard Medical School and a senior internist at the Harvard-affiliated Mass General Brigham healthcare empire, is the sort of person who loves to bite the hand that feeds him. Hence his searing and witty new book, Rethinking Medications, which gives it to you straight about how our nation's healthcare system — with Harvard Medical School at or near the center of the universe — is failing us mise

From NPR's On Point. By Paige Sutherland and Deborah Becker. Teaser/Abstract "With more than 60% of Americans taking a prescription drug, there are increasing questions about how these medicines are approved, how they're kept safe and how they're priced. In a new book, Harvard's Dr. Jerry Avorn argues the drugs we take have been compromised by profits." Source: On Point with Meghna Chakrabarti, WBUR Boston, April 21, 2025. Host: Deborah Becker. Duration: 45 minutes 32 seconds

From the New England Journal of Medicine. By William B. Feldman, MD, DPhil, MPH; Benjamin N. Rome, MD; Jerry Avorn, MD; Aaron S. Kesselheim, MD, JD, MPH. SUMMARY: This NEJM Perspective reviews a federal "Transparency in Coverage" rule requiring health insurers to disclose both list prices and historical net prices for medications and to provide patients with personalized cost-sharing estimates before they fill prescriptions. Feldman, Rome, Avorn, and Kesselheim examine the ru

From the New England Journal of Medicine. By Jerry Avorn, MD. SUMMARY: In this NEJM Perspective written shortly after Richard Thaler won the Nobel Prize in Economics for behavioral economics, Dr. Avorn applies behavioral decision-making insights to clinical practice — particularly to prescribing decisions. Avorn argues that the simplified rational-actor model of physician decision-making fails to account for the psychological biases, heuristics, and cognitive shortcuts that s