With Mirko von Hein and The Pharma Perspective. Harvard professor Jerry Avorn and I discuss drug regulation, FDA approval standards, surrogate endpoints, pharmaceutical pricing, public research funding, medical misinformation, and what all of this means for patients, innovation, and health policy.

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 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 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 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 the American Journal of Epidemiology. By Jerry Avorn, MD. SUMMARY: This invited commentary in the American Journal of Epidemiology addresses the origins, current status, and future possibilities of interventional pharmacoepidemiology — a field that uses epidemiological methods not merely to study drug use and outcomes but to actively intervene to improve prescribing. Avorn, one of the founders of this approach through his landmark 1983 academic-detailing trial, reflects

From Health Affairs. By Michael Fischer, MD and Jerry Avorn, MD. SUMMARY: This Health Affairs article by Fischer and Avorn argues that academic detailing — the practice of providing clinicians with personalized, evidence-based educational outreach — is well positioned to help translate comparative effectiveness research (CER) findings into improved prescribing. As the national emphasis on CER generates growing volumes of head-to-head comparisons of drugs and other interventio

From the New England Journal of Medicine. By Jerry Avorn, MD. SUMMARY: In this NEJM Perspective, written on the 50th anniversary of US legislation that transformed prescription drug approval, Dr. Avorn examines the still-unresolved question of who should be responsible for teaching clinicians about drugs. In 1961, the FDA gained authority to require proof of efficacy, creating a new need for authoritative, evidence-based drug information to reach prescribers. Half a century o

From Health Affairs. By Jerry Avorn, MD and Michael Fischer, MD. SUMMARY: This Health Affairs article by Avorn and Fischer addresses the challenge of translating comparative effectiveness research (CER) findings from the bench into actual improvements in clinical practice. The authors argue that the national investment in CER — stimulated in part by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act — will generate an unprecedented volume of new head-to-head comparisons of drugs and

From the New England Journal of Medicine. ByJerry Avorn, MD; Stephen B. Soumerai, MSPH; D. Everitt; D. Ross-Degnan; M.H. Beers; D. Sherman; et al. SUMMARY: This NEJM research article reports a randomized controlled trial in which an academic-detailing educational program was tested in nursing homes to reduce the inappropriate use of psychoactive (sedating) medications in elderly residents. Avorn, Soumerai, and colleagues randomized nursing homes and tracked prescribing outcom

From JAMA. By Jerry Avorn, MD and Stephen B. Soumerai, MSPH. SUMMARY: This 1983 JAMA letter/brief report by Avorn and Soumerai serves as a companion to their landmark NEJM randomized controlled trial published the same year, introducing their approach to reducing suboptimal drug use through educational outreach to physicians. Together, the two 1983 papers established the conceptual and empirical foundation for academic detailing as a field. The JAMA piece reaches the clinical

From New England Journal of Medicine. By Jerry Avorn. Abstract Improving precision and economy in the prescribing of drugs is a goal whose importance has increased with the proliferation of new and potent agents and with growing economic pressures to contain healthcare costs. We implemented an office-based physician education program to reduce the excessive use of three drug groups: cerebral and peripheral vasodilators, an oral cephalosporin, and propoxyphene. A four-state sa