TY - JOUR T1 - April Focus JF - British Journal of General Practice JO - Br J Gen Pract SP - 266 LP - 266 VL - 57 IS - 537 AU - David Jewell Y1 - 2007/04/01 UR - http://bjgp.org/content/57/537/266.abstract N2 - ‘Are we all the dupes of the pharmaceutical industry?’. The review of Malcolm Kendrick's The Great Cholesterol Con on page 336 argues that we are all being duped, but doesn't go so far as to direct the blame at the pharmaceutical industry. However, the reviewer feels that the book should ‘make us all uneasy’. Take, for example, the comments made about the lack of benefit in primary prevention; benefit is only proved for men with established ischaemic heart disease, and even for them it only amounts to a few days for each year of taking the drugs. On page 332 Michael Weingarten writes about the sanctity of life and challenges the whole idea that a few extra days of life are what matter. You may disagree with the argument, or the religious tradition from which it stems (and I should declare an interest here). However the general line — that the value of a life … ER -