Product Description
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.

CUSTOMER REVIEWS (Average Customer Rating: 4.0 based on 28 reviews)

review:Critical Condition by Ronald Giranio (Chicago)

5 Stars
September 12, 2009
This analysis of the health care state in this country is complete and shocking. I thoroughly enjoyed the text, and recommend it to anyone who would like to learn about where the money is going in health care at the expense of the average patient's health.

good addition to the debate by Crystal C. Sims

4 Stars
July 25, 2009
I wish more people would read this book today to be more familiar with some of the complexities of health care problems and need for reform.

MUST READ by Eric M. Huffman (Rochester, NY USA)

5 Stars
January 11, 2009
A well written and obviously well reseached book that everyone should read. A real eye-opener on many aspects of the USA health care system. The kind of book that will help form an informed opinion on how we go forward in the country with obviously needed (even more so, after reading this book) health care reform. Should be mandatory reading for all. Covers many aspects of the system, pharmaceutical advertising and sales practices, hospital policy, billing by hospitals and coverage by HMOs. The FDA and how it may not always operate in the best interest of the American public. Just a host of things. A final chapter with some recommendations to improve the system in the future. I will reread this book and keep it as a reference.

The Numbers Say It All by cultured cook (Detroit)

5 Stars
September 03, 2008
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.

Wish I'd had this Book in 2003! by Janet Bertolus (La, Ca)

5 Stars
August 28, 2008
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

SIMILAR PRODUCTS

	Sick: The Untold Story of America's Health Care Crisis---and the People Who Pay the Price by Jonathan Cohn (Author) America's health care system is unraveling, with millions of hard-working people unable to pay for prescription drugs and regular checkups, let alone hospital visits. Jonathan Cohn traveled across the United States—the only country in the developed world that does not guarantee its citizens access to medical care—to investigate why this crisis is happening and to see firsthand its impact on ordinary Americans. Passionate, powerful, illuminating, and often devastating, Sick chronicles...
	One Nation, Uninsured: Why the U.S. Has No National Health Insurance by Jill Quadagno (Author) Every industrial nation in the world guarantees its citizens access to essential health care services--every country, that is, except the United States. In fact, one in eight Americans--a shocking 43 million people--do not have any health care insurance at all. One Nation, Uninsured offers a vividly written history of America's failed efforts to address the health care needs of its citizens. Covering the entire twentieth century, Jill Quadagno shows how each attempt to enact national...
	Health Care Meltdown: Confronting The Myths and Fixing Our Failing System by Robert H. LeBow (Author), C. Rocky White (Author) Almost five years after the original publication of Dr. Lebow's authoritative dissection of America's health care "system", the situation has in many ways deteriorated. More Americans lack any health insurance, costs continue to increase faster than income, and increasing complexity is overwhelming everyone involved. In revising this book, Dr. C. Rocky White has included recent developments in the field, and updated the relevant statistics. The bibliography has been expanded to include...
	Debating Immigration by Carol M. Swain (Editor) Debating Immigration presents 18 original essays, written by some of the world's leading experts and preeminent scholars, that explore the nuances of contemporary immigration and citizenship affecting the United States and Europe. The volume is organized around the following themes: religion and philosophy, law and policy, economics and demographics, race and ethnicity, and cosmopolitanism. Critical questions addressed include: What accounts for the disconnect between public attitudes about...
	The Scalpel's Edge: The Culture of Surgeons by Pearl Katz (Author) This ethnography about the culture of surgeons describes how and why they differ significantly from other physicians. Historically rising from humble roots as lower-class, uneducated, itinerant barbers, the profession has evolved into one of the most prestigious in America, one that utilizes the most sophisticated technologies in medicine. Surgeons have nonetheless retained many aspects of their historical culture, such as their proclivity for quick decisions, surgical "cures," and their...