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Bad Pharma book club questions
Here are 12 book club questions for Bad Pharma by Ben Goldacre, ordered to open easily and end somewhere worth arguing about. Copy them, print them, or bring them up one at a time.
Bad Pharma is Ben Goldacre's sustained indictment of the pharmaceutical industry's manipulation of clinical trial evidence, and of the regulatory and academic institutions that have failed to stop it.
Ben Goldacre · 2012 · 7h 30m
Full summary and key takeaways →The 12 questions
- 1.
Goldacre argues that missing trial data is the central problem. What would it take to mandate full data disclosure globally, and what are the barriers?
- 2.
The Tamiflu case is the book's most striking example: governments stockpiled a drug based on data that turned out to be unavailable. What does this say about the competence of regulatory bodies?
- 3.
He distinguishes between individual bad actors and systemic incentives. Is that distinction convincing, or does it let companies off the hook too easily?
- 4.
Publication bias in medical research has been documented for decades. Why has it persisted despite being widely known?
- 5.
What's your reaction to the ghost-writing chapters? Is undisclosed ghost-writing straightforwardly unethical, or is there a defensible version of industry-academic collaboration?
- 6.
Goldacre's proposals are technically achievable — trial registration, data sharing. What political and economic obstacles block them?
- 7.
How do you evaluate the argument that the pharmaceutical industry, despite these problems, has produced genuine advances in human health? Does that offset the distortions he documents?
- 8.
Most patients can't evaluate the evidence behind the drugs they're prescribed. What obligations does that asymmetry create for doctors, regulators, and companies?
- 9.
If you were a clinician reading this book, how would it change how you approach treatment decisions for patients?
- 10.
The AllTrials campaign that Goldacre helped found has had partial success. How do you measure progress on a problem like this?
- 11.
Bad Pharma focuses on the pharmaceutical industry, but similar publication bias problems exist in other fields of research. How far do you think the argument generalizes?
- 12.
What's the most important reform Goldacre proposes, and what's the first step toward implementing it?
How to run the discussion
- Pick six to eight, not all of them. An hour of real discussion covers fewer questions than anyone expects, and racing the list is what makes a book club feel like homework.
- Open with what people noticed, not what they concluded. Asking for a verdict first hardens opinions before anyone has heard each other.
- Let the disagreement run. The questions below that split a room are the ones worth the time; the ones everyone answers the same way can be skipped.
- Ask the quiet person a specific question. A direct, narrow question is far easier to answer than an open invitation to contribute.
Themes worth steering toward
If the conversation stalls, these are the threads that usually restart it.
Common questions
What are good book club questions for Bad Pharma?
Here are 12 book club questions for Bad Pharma by Ben Goldacre, ordered to open easily and end somewhere worth arguing about. The strongest openers ask what each reader noticed rather than what they concluded, and the discussion usually turns on pharmaceutical industry, evidence-based medicine, regulation.
How long should a book club discussion of Bad Pharma last?
Most groups run 60 to 90 minutes of actual discussion. That is roughly six to eight questions, not all of them, so pick the ones that suit your group rather than working down the list in order.
What are the main themes in Bad Pharma?
Pharmaceutical industry, Evidence-based medicine, Regulation, Publication bias, Medical ethics. Those are the threads most likely to divide a room, which makes them the useful places to steer a discussion that has gone quiet.
Picking the next one? See books like Bad Pharma or questions for other book club picks.
