Riveting, revealing stories of patient denial.
A superb collection of real-life medical mysteries.
Patients and doctors can both have blind spots. For example, a doctor will occasionally make or refute a diagnosis based on nothing more than pride, despite a career’s worth of experience. Patients, however, sometimes troublingly deny obvious symptoms or refuse to divulge relevant information. In most cases, these patient behaviors lead to prolonged illness and pain or, in the worst cases, a patient’s death. In these nine beautifully written, captivating case studies, Halkin presents true stories of patient denial from his own experience as a physician. These complicated medical mysteries concern not only the body, but also psychological, often subconscious motives. In one such case, a young executive presents with symptoms of a rare, life-threatening ailment called Gaucher’s disease, including a yearlong low-grade fever. The patient and his wife claim that he’s never been diagnosed—until after he is prepped for an invasive procedure, when he suddenly, calmly claims says that he remembers the diagnostic tests. It turns out that after the prior diagnosis, which should have had the couple rethinking their lives, they had continued as though the doctor had told them all was well and suppressed the memory. Halkin asks: Is this behavior self-destruction or self-preservation? The author uses his formidable psychological insight not only to understand his patients’ and colleagues’ baffling behavior, but also to analyze himself (“Could I have put their right to denial before my responsibility to warn them as best I could?”). Although readers may find it chilling to consider that patients could purposely subvert their own diagnoses and treatments, they may find it illuminating to read about the complex dance of trust and fear in doctor-patient relationships.
Riveting, revealing stories of patient denial.Pub Date: Oct. 14, 2013
ISBN: 978-1490423524
Page Count: 198
Publisher: CreateSpace
Review Posted Online: Dec. 19, 2013
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
Stricter than, say, Bergen Evans or W3 ("disinterested" means impartial — period), Strunk is in the last analysis...
Privately published by Strunk of Cornell in 1918 and revised by his student E. B. White in 1959, that "little book" is back again with more White updatings.
Stricter than, say, Bergen Evans or W3 ("disinterested" means impartial — period), Strunk is in the last analysis (whoops — "A bankrupt expression") a unique guide (which means "without like or equal").Pub Date: May 15, 1972
ISBN: 0205632645
Page Count: 105
Publisher: Macmillan
Review Posted Online: Oct. 28, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 1972
This is not the Nutcracker sweet, as passed on by Tchaikovsky and Marius Petipa. No, this is the original Hoffmann tale of 1816, in which the froth of Christmas revelry occasionally parts to let the dark underside of childhood fantasies and fears peek through. The boundaries between dream and reality fade, just as Godfather Drosselmeier, the Nutcracker's creator, is seen as alternately sinister and jolly. And Italian artist Roberto Innocenti gives an errily realistic air to Marie's dreams, in richly detailed illustrations touched by a mysterious light. A beautiful version of this classic tale, which will captivate adults and children alike. (Nutcracker; $35.00; Oct. 28, 1996; 136 pp.; 0-15-100227-4)
Pub Date: Oct. 28, 1996
ISBN: 0-15-100227-4
Page Count: 136
Publisher: Harcourt
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 1996
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