A novel prescription for America’s medical establishment.
Hansen’s debut looks at America’s health care system, describing its problems and offering solutions.
The author, a physician for 35 years, brings his perspective to what he calls the “witches’ brew” of medicine. Despite the vast sums this country spends on health care, he writes, our society still produces less-than-commendable health outcomes. Many of the system’s woes, Hansen asserts, are caused by “technophysicians...who only see the color of money,” and who are overwhelmed by the lure of expensive procedures. Their influence, he writes, has been abetted by the availability of sophisticated technology. He faults the marketing practices of the pharmaceutical industry, the failure of hospitals and physicians to discipline medical wrongdoing, and the lack of empathy for patients. The author also cites the rise of HMOs and managed care, which he believes are no better than the traditional fee-for-service model. Unlike most recent health-care books, which advocate a single-payer system, Hansen instead argues for a change in medical education. He writes that “spiritualism,” defined as a “higher power” to “help us find answers, serenity, and peace,” should be a tool used by “physician educators.” His own medical education, he says, caused him to be “locked into a textbook,” but he had a crucial experience during his internship—he watched a caring doctor engage directly with a seriously ill woman. Indeed, the most compelling parts of this book are the case histories of actual patients, and the author uses each story to illustrate a particular flaw in the practice of medicine. Overall, although some of the background material in this book might have been better condensed, readers will likely find the patients’ stories consistently engrossing.
A novel prescription for America’s medical establishment.Pub Date: July 10, 2012
ISBN: 978-1477211472
Page Count: 244
Publisher: AuthorHouse
Review Posted Online: Feb. 1, 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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