A terrifying journey, and it’s straight from today’s headlines. This novel by author Michael Madden, M.D., distinguished and decorated surgeon, slices with a scalpel, exposing the greed and corruption that can happen when drug executives and medical researchers position themselves for huge profits. Biosense Pharmaceuticals has produced a drug named BrobaGen, and now they need to test it on patients to gain FDA approval. But it has side effects, side effects that include death.

Nikki Moriarty, burdened with medical school debt and the consequences of an abused childhood, has one ambition upon completion of her surgical residency: an appointment on staff of the prestigious Manhattan University Medical Center. She is well on her way to accomplishing her goal after she gains a coveted position in the research lab of the renowned oncologist, Dr. Stuart Cogswell. That is, until patients die and a high school basketball star commits suicide.

BrobaGen contains growth hormone. It’s designed to recover lost weight of patients ravaged by cancer. And it works. But Nikki suspects the drug not only increases muscle growth, it also increases tumor growth. She investigates, uncovering a labyrinth of deceit and clandestine alliances which conspire to market BrobaGen as a performance-enhancing drug to the youth of the world.

And when Nikki learns too much, she ends up in an induced coma on her way to a permanent vegetative state. Her life is now in the hands of her mentor, Luke McConnachie, a former firefighter turned surgeon. But time is running out…

Author Michael Madden, M.D.’s experience, gives the reader an insightful view of a health care system dominated by the drug industry. His topic is prescient and his writing compelling. The bite of his satire is evident, and his quiet wisdom offered in counterpoint distinguishes him from other writers of medical suspense novels.