Dr. Jerry Avorn is a Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School and Chief of the Division of Pharmacoepidemiology and Pharmacoeconomics, which uses an interdisciplinary approach to evaluate the effectiveness of existing and new prescription drugs in relation to their risks and costs and to study how medications are used by physicians and patients. He also authored the book Powerful Medicines, describing the The Benefits, Risks, and Costs of Prescription Drugs, and he'll be discussing his views on the subject of pharmaceuticals in health care on Radio Rounds.