Book

The Standard of Trust: 200 Years of the United States Pharmacopeial Convention

Echo Storytelling / United States Pharmacopeial Convention, 2023. Hardbound and digital; 139pp.

My roles: Author, researcher, co-interviewer

The project:

The United States Pharmacopeial Society sets standards for drugs and vaccines. That means that aspirin isn’t aspirin unless it conforms to the USP’s chemical formula for aspirin, Ozempic is only Ozempic if the USP says it is, and any new cancer drug on the market can only be sold if it meets the criteria laid out in the USP’s monograph for that drug.

With its quality standards covering drugs, vaccines, and medical equipment used by 2 billion people worldwide, the USP has to be one of the most important organizations that most people have never heard of. It’s been around since 1820—and it’s been a volunteer-run non-profit, led by the world’s top scientists, the whole time.

Using research, interviews, and lots of storytelling, I wrote the book on the USP’s first 200 years.