Critical Condition: How Health Care in America Became Big

Critical Condition: How Health Care in America Became Big Business--and Bad Medicine

Exposing the most controversial, little-known practices of Americaâ€™s most flawed system, Time magazineâ€™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 doctorâ€™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 Americaâ€™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 politiciansâ€”beholden to insurers and drug companiesâ€”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 whatâ€™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 theyâ€™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.

Country	USA
Binding	Paperback
Brand	Barlett, Donald L./ Steele, James B.
EAN	9780767910750
Edition	unknown
ISBN	0767910753
Label	Broadway Books
Manufacturer	Broadway Books
MPN	9780767910750
NumberOfItems	1
NumberOfPages	288
PartNumber	9780767910750
PublicationDate	2005-10-11
Publisher	Broadway Books
ReleaseDate	2005-10-11
Studio	Broadway Books

Critical Condition: How Health Care in America Became Big Business--and Bad Medicine

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