It was my first and what would end up to being my most important interview to promote my book, "What Your Doctor Won't (or Can't) Tell You." I was invited to talk live on the Today Show with Ann Curry and I was quite anxious about going before the cameras and yet even more determined to tell my story. I knew many would think I wrote a book just to make money or to promote myself -- a not surprising thought from some of the cynical souls out there -- but for me it was all about telling a story that needed to be told. By landing an interview on the Today Show I thought I would have the chance to freely address my points in a very unbiased and free environment.

My opinion of the Today Show and the free press was immediately altered, however, when I was interviewed by the producer of the segment, two days prior to the interview. While she and the Today Show have denied doing this, it was quite clear to me that she warned me, with the clearest of intentions, not to discuss anything about the pharmaceutical industry. No doubt naive, I tried to convince her that my chapter on Big Pharma was the best and most enlightening -- and probably most damning -- portion of my book. But she was emphatic. No one would be interested in it. I was not to discuss it, and if I insisted on talking about Pharma I would not be asked on the show.

She didn’t know or understand who she was dealing with, an irreverent soul since a child, and someone who always had trouble accepting marching orders from a bully. And so , silly me, I became more concerned with the producer’s attempted censorship than with selling my book.

On the day of my interview as I sat down with Ann Curry, I told her about the producer's warning and asked her if that was “because so many of the Today Show’s commercials were paid for by Big Pharma.” Ms. Curry, I remember, seemed quite offended by my question and told me I could discuss anything I thought was relevant to my book. And so when she asked me her first question, carefully scripted by her producers, I managed to talk about the pharmaceutical companies and the expensive, though not always superior, medications they coax some doctors into prescribing.

I wasn’t able to hear her scream, but I suspect the producer was apoplectic, especially after what unfolded. Ann was very professional and courteous during the remainder of the interview, but I left wondering if I had just screwed myself and my publisher by not playing the game. As it was, the “live” interview had been taped because of breaking coverage of one of the wars going on in Middle East.

Several days later, while I was out on my book tour, both my agent and my publisher called to let me know that the folks at NBC thought that I performed so poorly on my interview that they could not televise it. A week later, however, my agent called me to tell me he had reviewed the DVD of the interview and thought I had done very well. And then I realized what had likely happened. I had opened up my foolish iconoclastic mouth and violated a taboo (don't talk about Big Pharma) and the punishment for that was to have my interview placed on a shelf instead of on the air.

Getting to Ann Curry, the only person who could help me, was not an easy task, as my agent and publisher had pretty much called it a day a week after my publication date. But like any street-smart Brooklyn boy would, I figured I could send her a message in the form of a huge floral arrangement. And so with a quick call to 1-800-Flowers I ordered a huge assortment of flowers and left a message that said, “Ann, I thought you said I could talk about anything I wanted to. Thanks, Dr. Evan Levine."

A day later the interview aired on the Today Show, although the staff never gave a courtesy heads- up to anyone at Putnam Publishing, to my agent, or even to me. Did I perform so poorly or did I behave so poorly? I'd like your opinion.

About the author: Evan S. Levine, MD FACC, is Director of the Cardiovascular Center at Saint Joseph’s Hospital and a Clinical Assistant Professor of Medicine at Montefiore Medical Center – Albert Einstein College of Medicine. He is also the author of the book “What Your Doctor Won’t (or can’t) Tell You”. He lives in Connecticut with his wife and children.