Bottle of Lies by Katherine Eban

Summary

The troubles of Indian pharma companies abroad raise questions about the domestic drug regulator.

Although Bottle of Lies, a book about the quality problems plaguing generic drugs, focuses on medicines intended for American consumers, the real and continuing victims of the failings described in the book are consumers in developing countries, including Indians.

In May 2013, soon after the erstwhile Ranbaxy Laboratories admitted in an American court to selling adulterated drugs, journalist Katherine Eban published a gripping 10,000-word account of the saga in Fortune magazine. But the story left Eban wondering if Ranbaxy was an isolated case. Could there be more rotten eggs, she asked, given the United States Food & Drugs Administration’s (FDA) lax policing of overseas manufacturers? Bottle of Lies is the result of the multi-year investigation that followed.