Theories of Surplus Value (Great Minds Series)

The cost of the American healthcare system is spiraling out of control at $1 trillion annually. Bad Medicine argues that the real solutions require a complete overhaul of the medical mindset of doctors and the institutions that train them. By recognizing physicians themselves as the principal cause of the crisis now facing the nation, it becomes possible to arrive at some explanation for the house of cards which is the American medical establishment today. O'Brien contends that American medicine has gone from being general-practitioner based to being overrun by specialists who treat only certain parts of the body and certain ailments, who recommend unneeded surgeries, and who ignore the important questions of ethics. He also exposes the perverse supply-and-demand formula within the medical system with doctors determining the demand for their services while patients have little say in these decisions. Bad Medicine outlines needed reforms to physician education, reconstruction of the medical pecking order, and redirection of government policies. By following this clear and distinct path toward reconstruction and reform of medicine, America will have the health care it needs and deserves in the twenty-first century.