USA Places - Critical Condition: How Health Care in America Became Big Business--and Bad Medicine
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List Price: $14.50
USA Places Price: $7.19
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Manufacturer: Doubleday
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Average Customer Rating:  
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Binding: Kindle Edition
Dewey Decimal Number: 362.10973
Format: Kindle Book
Label: Doubleday
Manufacturer: Doubleday
Number Of Items: 1
Number Of Pages: 288
Publication Date: 2004-10-05
Publisher: Doubleday
Release Date: 2004-10-05
Studio: Doubleday
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Editorial Reviews:
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Exposing the most controversial, little-known practices of America’s most flawed system, Time magazine’s Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative team pulls back the curtain on the health care industry to explain exactly how things grew so out of control.
Dirty examination and operating rooms in doctor’s offices and hospitals . . . Health care executives pulling in millions in bonuses for denying treatment to the sick . . . More than 100 million people with inadequate or no medical coverage . . . This may sound like the predicament of a third-world nation, but this is America’s health care reality today. The U.S. spends more on health care than any other nation, yet our benefits are shrinking and life expectancy is shorter here than in countries that spend significantly less per capita. Meanwhile, HMOs, pharmaceutical companies, and hospital chains reap tremendous profits, while politicians—beholden to insurers and drug companies—enact legislation for the benefit of the few rather than the many, while the entire system is on the verge of collapse.
In CRITICAL CONDITION, award-winning investigative journalists Donald L. Barlett and James B. Steele expose the horror of what health care in America has become. They profile patients and doctors trapped by the system and offer startling personal stories that illuminate what’s gone wrong. Doctors tell of being second-guessed and undermined by health care insurers; nurses recount chilling tales of hospital meltdowns; patients explain how they’ve been victimized by a system that is meant to care for them. Drug companies profit by selling pills in the same manner that Madison Avenue sells soap, while Wall Street rakes in billions by building up and then tearing down health care businesses. And politicians pass legislation perpetuating the injustices and out-right fraud the system encourages.
By analyzing the industry and offering an insightful prescription for getting it back on the right track, CRITICAL CONDITION is an enormously compelling investigative work that addresses the concerns of every American.
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Spotlight customer reviews:
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Customer Rating:
Summary: The Numbers Say It All
Comment: Yep, I thought so--pharmaceutical advertising and the corporatization of our health system aren't helping any. This book covers those aspects plus many more. The authors draw numbers and statistics from many different agencies, from the WHO to the AMA, to paint a vivid history of health care in America. As a person who has gone without insurance, I knew that I paid more for the same services as someone who did have insurance, but I wasn't aware of the full range of the insured/uninsured pricing scale. When you start getting into the actual numbers, it's pretty amazing. And when you look at the basic stats--average life expectancy per country and how much individual countries spend on health care per year--you'll be (to paraphrase our erstwhile Michigan governor) blown away. Seriously. I had fallen prey to that "but we have the best health care in the world!" syndrome, but I can't see how that's the case when we spend SO much more on it, yet don't live as long as other countries who spend much, much less. The numbers say it all.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Wish I'd had this Book in 2003!
Comment: Boy! Do I wish I'd had this book and the information inside in 2003! My father was stuck very deep in the mud of the HMO system and trying to fight lung cancer. The doctors were overworked and understaffed, and we had to be his advocate every step of the way. We asked a lot of questions much to their obvious consternation. This book would have helped us to aim our questions with precision, to the appropriate topics, which is hard to do when you're overwelmed with emotions.
So much was explained in this must have handbook, that I have a new clarity of the situation in hindsite.
Thank you Ms. Ehrenclou for your insight! Brillant!
J. Bertolus, Los Angeles
Customer Rating:
Summary: Many scary examples, little on a solution
Comment: I won't give an exhaustive review as others have done so well. I just wanted to add my voice to those that note this book contains many well-researched examples of just how bad things have become. What the book does not do, however, is give a thorough and balanced look at possible solutions. One must wait until the last chapter, which is quite short, to read about one possible solution - and even this one possibility is not covered in great detail. So, I would recommend you read the book just so you see that, even if your experience has not been bad, it definitely has been very much so for others. But you really will not find "what we should do about it."
Customer Rating:
Summary: Has to be the next book you read!!!!!
Comment: Everybody who is fed up with the current U.S. health care situation needs to take the time to read this book. It is written for the masses who need a general understanding of how this for-profit system is ruining the quality of life of millions of Americans. Especially with the 2008 presidential election in full gear, this book will give you enough basic information about our existing health care system to put the pressure on all of the 2008 presidential candidates to endorse a national single-payer health care system covering all Americans. Finally, putting us on par with every other "developed" and "civilized" nation on Earth. Excellent work by Barrett.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Excellent book
Comment: I watched Sicko and loved it. I hated the reality it showed. The problem is I didn't want to jump on his bandwagon until I did some more reading on my own.
On some website, someone wrote that they highly recommend this book. I borrowed it from the library.
This takes Sicko and multiplies its intensity by 10. It's too bad the authors couldn't get the power of visuals and sound that movies, like Moore's enjoys. Otherwise this book would HAMMER this country so hard, it would tremble.
If you liked Sicko, but want more, READ THIS BOOK! If you hated Sicko, READ THIS BOOK, to get a dose of reality. Anti-moore fans can't say much after reading this book because Moore has nothing to do with this.
While I would have liked some graphs/charts or some another illustrative, visual way to reinforce the facts, this book is GREAT! Please read it!
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