Pharmageddon...

[Bigmack]

I was checking Google for "Pharmageddon" after reading the DU post about the oxy epidemic...

http://upload.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=439x1314365

and I found a listing for a book "Pharmageddon- the limits of Pharmacutical Medicine.." by Paul Clayton.

Looked on Amazon, and "Out of Print". Interesting.. publishing date of 12/2010, and out of print?

No description of content on Amazon, nor on Barnes and Noble. Not even on Better World Books.

Now I'm really interested in why a book with that controversial a title is "disappeared".

Do I put on my tinfoil yarmulke?

[stellanoir]

1. You may find this video of interest if ya missed it. . .

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UIm8fHxqUAM

[enlightenment]

2. Yeah - put on the tinfoil . . . :)

The book was published by the Royal Society of Medicine Press for one run (apparently). Academic presses (and other small presses) word on a narrow margin and usually do small runs; often 1,000 or less. Once they're gone, they're gone. Most presses have a 'make or break' date - sometimes a year, sometimes more or less - by which they expect a book to sell-out. If the book sells well and makes that date, the press will consider doing a second run.

No conspiracy - just the way they do business.

[valerief]

3. In the day of print on demand? Strange. nt

[enlightenment]

4. Not really.

Many small presses operate that way - print on demand is not always more cost efficient than one-off printings, particularly in the academic arena (the joke is that all PhD candidates and new hires are encouraged to publish their dissertation - which will probably be read by a few dozen others in their field. You have to laugh about it - or cry). I haven't checked, but I don't think this particular press has a lot of publications (compared to another academic press and certainly not compared to a popular press), so I suspect they operate the old-fashioned way.