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(88 reviews)
Author: Visit Amazon's John Abramson Page
ISBN : 0060568526
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Format: PDF
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From Publishers Weekly
According to Abramson, Americans are overmedicated and overmedicalized as a result of the commercialization of health care. Falling prey to marketing campaigns, we demand unnecessary and expensive drugs and procedures, believing they constitute the best possible medical care. Wrong, says Abramson: though more post–heart attack procedures are performed in the U.S. than in Canada, one-year survival rates are the same. Similarly, notes Abramson, a former family practitioner who teaches at Harvard Medical School, we spend more on high-tech neonatology than other Western countries but have a higher infant-mortality rate because of inattention to low-tech prenatal care. Abramson deconstructs the scientific sleight of hand in presenting clinical trial results that leads to the routine prescription of pricey cholesterol-lowering drugs even when their effectiveness has not been proven; he examines what he calls "supply-sensitive medical services"—the near-automatic use of medical technologies, such as cardiac catheterization, less because they are needed than because they are available. Abramson's bottom line: "More care doesn't necessarily mean better care." Arguing firmly that doctors should focus more on lifestyle changes to improve health, Abramson seems less credible when he writes off depression as "exercise-deficiency disease" and disposes of cancer in little more than a page. Still, he makes a powerful and coherent case that American medicine has gone badly astray and needs a new paradigm—one untainted by profits.
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Review
“Enlightening.” (Washington Post Book World)
“A powerful and coherent case that American medicine has gone badly astray.” (Publishers Weekly)
“Abramson’s book will have you rethinking your relationship with your doctor and your health.” (The Oregonian (Portland))
“Before you see a doctor, you should read this book.” (Eric Schlosser, author of Fast Food Nation)
“A clear and concise explanation of how American medicine has gone astray...a must read for both patients and doctors.” (Herbert Benson, MD, author of The Relaxation Response and The Breakout Principle)
“Fulfills the criteria for high quality in health services: the right diagnosis and the right prescription at the right time.” (Barbara Starfield, MD, MPH, University Distinguished Professor, Johns Hopkins University & Medical Institutions)
“Acompelling and well-documented analysis... a book every American should read.” (Elliott Fisher, MD, MPH, Professor of Medicine, Dartmouth Medical School)
“Essential for all those who want to intelligently reclaim responsibility for their own health.” (Cheryl Richardson, author of Take Time for Your Life, Life Makeovers and Stand Up for Your Life)
See all Editorial Reviews
Direct download links available for Free Download Overdosed America: The Broken Promise of American Medicine
- Hardcover: 352 pages
- Publisher: Harper (September 21, 2004)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 0060568526
- ISBN-13: 978-0060568528
- Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.3 x 1 inches
- Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
Free Download Overdosed America: The Broken Promise of American Medicine
In the news this morning (November 20, 2004): The Associated Press reports that shares in pharmaceutical giants AstraZeneca PLC and GlaxoSmithKline PLC dropped after safety concerns over the anti-cholesterol drug, Crestor, and asthma drug, Serevent, were raised. For those who have read Dr. Abramson's book, Overdosed in America, safety concerns with Crestor will come as no surprise.
Dr. Abramson has done a more than credible job of researching the current state of medical care in the United States (taking three years away from his private practice to do so). Examining the links between emphasis on lowering cholesterol and drug company profits is just one area of current American medical care he tackles.
There are those who will argue that his common-sense approach to reducing health care costs while, at the same time, increasing American health, is too simple to be worthwhile. However, Dr. Abramson's recommendations are based on solid research findings. Sometimes, answers can be simple.
Overdosed America is an important book backed up by Dr. Abramson's painstaking research. Read it to save your wealth. Read it to save your health.
December Update:
I am astonished to see such highly negative reviews of Overdosed America. Are these the same folk who would never buy an automobile or vacuum without checking Consumers' ratings?
Surely, they have failed to read the book carefully or they could not suggest that much valuable research will be lost if we become actively involved in our own medicine and related pharmaceuticals instead of passive consumers of whatever latest pill that's being pushed.
Dr. Abramson became frustrated with patients who already "knew" what they needed via drug company ads, and "retreated" to teaching at Harvard Medical School. His personal experience and ability to carefully review medical research combine to produce an excellent book.
Much of what Abramson reports involves the drug industry. He gives specific examples where published drug studies focus on recipients non-representative of typical (target) users - eg. younger, and less prone to adverse reactions. Sometimes the reported data show (if one has the time to read carefully) that the true targets do WORSE with the medication, and this finding is obscured by positive results with the more numerous (atypical) younger selected test patients.
Other medical research reporting ploys utilized by drug companies include: 1)reporting initially positive results, while omitting adverse subsequent outcomes, 2)combining serious (when increased) and minor (when decreased) adverse event numbers to cover up problems, 3)comparing a strong dose of a new medicine with an inappropriate weak dose, comparing a new drug with a placebo, instead of existing efficacious drugs, 4)not reporting negative drug trials, 5)failing to point out that lifestyle changes often provide much better results than drugs, and 6)pulling advertising from medical journals running unfavorable articles.
The result is typically increased cost of care, and less than ideal results. Sometimes, however, it is much worse. Dr. Abramson reports that anti-arrhythmic drugs (reduce dangerous rapid heartbeat) were found to INCREASE death rates in '80 - however, the results were not published until '93, resulting in an estimated 20-75,000 extra deaths/year.
How are the drug companies able to do this?