Sharp, authoritative, and intensely data-driven. Though it reads like an expanded article for a professional medical...
An argument for redirecting health care funding in the United States, concentrating less on biomedical research and more on social services, thereby improving our general health and preventing overspending.
In the U.S., we spend considerably more on developing expensive medical treatments compared to other economically advanced countries, yet we often fall behind in terms of life expectancy and quality of life. So argues Kaplan (Director of Research/Stanford School of Medicine Clinical Excellence Research Center; The Prophet of Psychiatry: In Search of Reginald Ellery, 2015, etc.) in this slim but comprehensive new book. The author rigorously investigates some of the cutting-edge research areas—e.g., genetic therapy and precision medicine—funded by the National Institutes of Health (where the author was a chief science officer) and influenced by the financial interests of the pharmaceutical industry. He concludes that the promise of generating astounding cures for particular medical problems is considerably stronger than the practice. He appeals for increased funding for improved quality-of-health care that could save thousands of lives, citing the increased number of deaths each year due to poor treatment and medical errors (the third-leading cause of death behind heart disease and cancer). Kaplan further considers issues around race, financial inequality, and lack of education, pointing to the increased death rates in more impoverished parts of the country where medicine has done little to improve health outcomes. Ultimately, the author is not opposed to biomedicine, but he seeks urgent reforms in how we allocate funding. “It is not my contention that biomedicine is inherently harmful or useless. Far from it,” he writes. “It is my contention that researchers and the wider citizenry should continually debate strategies for extracting public benefit from scientific knowledge. I believe that an open debate, accountable to the latest evidence, will inspire significant reforms.”
Sharp, authoritative, and intensely data-driven. Though it reads like an expanded article for a professional medical journal, the argument is deeply compelling.Pub Date: Feb. 4, 2019
ISBN: 978-0-674-97590-3
Page Count: 196
Publisher: Harvard Univ.
Review Posted Online: Nov. 12, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2018
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
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
An extravaganza in Bemelmans' inimitable vein, but written almost dead pan, with sly, amusing, sometimes biting undertones, breaking through. For Bemelmans was "the man who came to cocktails". And his hostess was Lady Mendl (Elsie de Wolfe), arbiter of American decorating taste over a generation. Lady Mendl was an incredible person,- self-made in proper American tradition on the one hand, for she had been haunted by the poverty of her childhood, and the years of struggle up from its ugliness,- until she became synonymous with the exotic, exquisite, worshipper at beauty's whrine. Bemelmans draws a portrait in extremes, through apt descriptions, through hilarious anecdote, through surprisingly sympathetic and understanding bits of appreciation. The scene shifts from Hollywood to the home she loved the best in Versailles. One meets in passing a vast roster of famous figures of the international and artistic set. And always one feels Bemelmans, slightly offstage, observing, recording, commenting, illustrated.
Pub Date: Feb. 23, 1955
ISBN: 0670717797
Page Count: -
Publisher: Viking
Review Posted Online: Oct. 25, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 1955
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