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.[1] [2]
He graduated from Harvard College. In 1974, he received a BMS from Dartmouth Medical School followed by his MD from Brown Medical School.[3]
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."[4] [5] 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."[6]