Basically.... and historically the drug companies conceal any
negative results from their studies...UNTIL the drug goes generic. Then we get more information.

But with the new sophisticated drugs we have seen in the
last decade, their negative effects are SO horrible that they are showing up BEFORE the patents expire.
The executives at the drug companies have decided that the
losses from liability suits and fines are smaller than the potential for profit. They know the FDA is flawed and unable to enforce safety issues. So they throw the drug out there and many many people are harmed as a result.

The drug companies pay some doctors to persuade other doctors to use these drugs. The expose on Wyeth/Effexor a year ago in the NYT was an example. Now we have Reuben swaying doctors to use Lyrica and Neurontin.

Soon the dirt will hit the fan with statins. That one will be bigger than all of them put together in the past, IMO. Statins have been forced on NORMAL people... millions and millions of them.
The "need" for them was created by the drug industry.