John Abramson

John David Abramson is an American physician and the author of the book Overdosed America: The Broken Promise of American Medicine. He has worked as a family doctor in Appalachia and in Hamilton, Massachusetts, and has served as chairman of the department of family practice at Lahey Clinic. He was a Robert Wood Johnson Fellow and is on the clinical faculty of Harvard Medical School, where he teaches primary care and public health policy.

He graduated from Harvard College. In 1974, he received a BMS from Dartmouth Medical School followed by his MD from Brown Medical School.

In October 2013, Abramson was the lead author of an article published in the British Medical Journal (BMJ), "Should people at low risk of cardiovascular disease take a statin?" The authors claimed that a study had shown that a substantial percentage of statin drug users had experienced side effects. In May 2014, the journal published a "correction" that declared: "The conclusion and summary box of this Analysis article by Abramson and colleagues stated that side effects of statins occur in about 18-20% of patients. The authors withdraw this statement." On November 13, 2013, The New York Times published a commentary by Abramson and Rita F. Redberg which echoed the subsequently retracted BMJ claim that "18 percent or more of this group [of statin users] would experience side effects, including muscle pain or weakness, decreased cognitive function, increased risk of diabetes (especially for women), cataracts or sexual dysfunction."

Books

• Sickening: How Big Pharma Broke American Health Care and How We Can Repair It. Mariner Books, 2022
• Overdosed America: The Broken Promise of American Medicine. Harper, 2004

External links

• Interview of John Abramson on Breaking Points (video, 23 mins)