Review:
Wise, lucid, and readable, Dr. Lobosky's book explores the many ways that the U.S. health care system is dysfunctional. Wise words from a wise man.--Richard D. Lamm, Governor of Colorado, 1975-1987, Co-Director of the Institute for Public Policy Studies, University of Denver
Dr. Jeffrey Lobosky unabashedly diagnoses American healthcare as broken. 'It's Enough To Make You Sick' is provocative, challenging and timely. You may not agree with everything you read, but you will never think about health care the same way again. We all have a stake in making things better and Dr. Lobosky shows us the way.--Nancy L. Snyderman, M.D., F.A.C.S., NBC News Chief Medical Editor, associate professor Head and Neck Surgery, University of Pennsylvania, M.D., F.A.C.S., NBC News Chief Medical Editor, associate professor Head and Neck Surgery, University of Pennsylvania
Lobosky is not a health-care-policy expert, but rather a practicing neurosurgeon with nearly three decades of experience caring for the ill and injured. Written at least partly as an act of catharsis, his book condemns the contemporary state of the American health-care system and offers well-reasoned remedies. Lobosky bemoans the breakdown of the traditional doctor-patient relationship. He finds collective fault with the current system; everyone is responsible for its failure. In his view, there are "no absolute villains." Money is the source of much of the trouble. In 2010, more than $2.5 trillion were expended on the country's health care. The chief cause of bankruptcy in the U.S. is catastrophic medical debt. This doctor finds the emphasis on profit in medical care problematic. The system needs an infusion of compassionate care. In his timely book, Lobosky makes a sound diagnosis: "market-based, profit-driven medicine has for the most part proven to be a colossal failure on many fronts." The cure remains frustratingly elusive.--Booklist
Neurosurgeon Lobosky's history/manifesto aims to explain and expose healthcare in America by tracing insurance from 2100 B.C.E to contemporary Washington health politics.--Publishers Weekly
This book offers a cogent, uncompromised look at what our health care system has wrought. Dr. Lobosky is not your typical East L.A. name, but hale from there he does, and he provides the Grand Canyon view of health care in America through his career as a doctor on the front lines of health care delivery. Moreover, he does not spare any punches with his contemporaries, either, making the book both a good read as well as objective--not always the case in the health care furor these days.... As the stench from the election year permeates our air, keep this book on hand for some straight talk on the real machinations of the U.S. health care system when one of those pundits comes a-calling.--New York Journal of Books
Too many Americans either do not have health insurance or have inadequate coverage. Where, how, and when they receive health care distorts their quality of care and the health care system. Americans call the US health delivery system the best in the world; the country spends far more money on health care than any other society, and yet US health status statistics are largely mediocre. Neurological surgeon Lobosky (Univ. of California, San Francisco) describes a system dominated by special interests (insurance and pharmaceutical companies, trial lawyers, the medical profession, for-profit hospitals, and many others), who frequently place profits over patients. Politicians often have a limited understanding of the complex health care system; in response to pressures from these special interests and well-meaning constituents, they have created a system that is too costly, too complex, and fragmented with less than the desired health care outcomes. The current system is not only undermining the doctor-patient relationship but creating patients who are not sure that physicians act in their best interests. Lobosky provides valuable insight into the current health care dilemma and, in the context of the current political environment, suggests meaningful reforms to put patient needs at the center of care. Summing Up: Recommended. General readers; upper-division undergraduates and above.--CHOICE
About the Author:
Jeffrey M. Lobosky, M.D., is Associate Clinical Professor in the Department of Neurological Surgery at the University of California San Francisco and is Co-Director of the Neurotrauma Intensive Care Unit at Enloe Medical Center in Chico, California. He has served on the Board of Directors for the Joint Section on Trauma and Critical Care for the American Association of Neurological Surgeons and the Congress of Neurological Surgeons. He was also appointed one of organized neurosurgery's representatives to the American College of Surgeon's Committee on Trauma which advises national policy makers on health care issues. Dr. Lobosky has served as Chairman of the Board of the "Think First" National Injury Prevention Foundation and has received both national and international acclaim for his work on injury prevention. He is the author of numerous research articles in respected journals as well as several book chapters addressing the health care crisis in America. He is the recipient of numerous awards for his contributions to the field of trauma prevention and is an invited lecturer throughout the United States and abroad.
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