A Long Strange Trip

He's a longtime correspondent on health and science policy for The New York Times. In his new book, Protecting America's Health: the FDA, Business, and One Hundred Years of Regulation, he chronicles the history of the Food and Drug Administration from its start during the administration of Teddy Roosevelt.

That's NPR's Fresh Air on Philip Hilts, whose new book was published in March. In his interview Hilts touched on a number of interesting historical developments we may not think much about today, such as the shift to the present prescription drug system. Hilts also has chronicled tobacco's legal battles: Smoke Screen: The Truth Behind the Tobacco-Industry Cover-Up.