Death by Prescription is a story about a loving father who uncovers the truth about prescription drugs and his daughters death. Vanessa had been taking a drug called Prepulsid to help her digest. She had been vomiting after meals and this FDA (U.S. Food and Drug Administration) approved drug made by Johnson and Johnson was supposed to help her. Terence Young, the author of Death by Prescription and the father of Vanessa, researched night and day about this drug Prepulsid and concluded that there were warnings associated with it which lead to her death. Potential side effects such as heart irregularities which could trigger a heart attack and possibly sudden death. In further research he found tests proved that people who are vomiting should not use Prepulsid and all Canadian doctors had been informed of this from the Canadian government. He wondered how a multinational corporation could provide something that could kill someone. Young obsessed over finding who was responsible for his daughter’s death, approving this drug, and how it got onto the market. He came across many cases of people taking Prepulsid resulting in death or heart attack. Young soon contacted Health Canada and they told him that they do not have the authority to take products off the market. Therefore the governments policy is corrupt because only the manufacture has the authority to remove their own products after the FDA approves of it. This is a huge discovery that the majority of the public is unaware of and is important to know. Pharmaceutical companies like Johnson and Johnson persuade the FDA and Health Canada by showing that the drug works, but what they don’t show is that it might not work in all cases. In Vanessa’s case, Prepulsid affected her heart as it did in over 400 other cases.1 Young continued with a autopsy that proved the drug was responsible for his daughter’s death. The prescription drug was pulled off the market by the Johnson and Johnson pharmaceutical company and he wanted an apology from involved parties such as Johnson and Johnson, doctors, and Health Canada, but Young was not satisfied with that. He wanted to take this issue further. He knew that Prepulsid was not the only medication out there that had potentially fatal side effects. Young soon became convinced that pharmaceutical companies will do anything they can to keep their own drug on the market strictly for revenue. He then issued a 100 million dollar lawsuit against Johnson and Johnson and its pharmaceutical subsidiary for putting profit before safety. During this whole ordeal, Young demonstrated perseverance despite the emotional roller coaster he must of been battling. He put his goal ahead of his emotions which was to never let another Canadian go through what he and his family had gone through, especially because it was preventable. Furthermore Young conducted intensive research before doing anything. In doing this, he put himself in a non bias situation which allowed for a greater chance of success in the end. This shows that Young is familiar with the government policy process from his previous work as a member of the Ontario legislature. Despite being nonpartisan in this process, Young wrote
