Lethal Medicine

With America's health-care system in the midst of upheaval, and with government officials, physicians, and the public-at-large focused as never before on the cost and quality of these vital services, a hidden epidemic--medical malpractice--destroys hundreds of thousands of lives each year and is ignored by the majority of the medical establishment. Lethal Medicine is the first book to thoroughly examine malpractice, and its author, Harvey F. Wachsman, M.D., J.D., as both a respected neurosurgeon and the leading attorney in the field, is uniquely qualified to critique this problem from every angle. Using numerous case histories and authoritative data from university and government studies, Wachsman explodes the common myths that doctors are spending millions of dollars on "defensive medicine" and that the high cost of malpractice insurance is driving many doctors out of their practices. In fact, he argues that most malpractice cases actually do result from egregious abuses by doctors. Reviewing the latest court rulings and malpractice policies, Wachsman calls for the lgal community, government, and medical establishment to protect the public from the thousands of physicians who continue to practice irresponsible medicine without penalty. As Washington makes health care one of its highest priorities and the nation turns its attention to the issue, Lethal Medicine is a thoughtful yet urgent cry for reform by the nation's foremost expert on the topic.

"Deadly Medicine tells the dramatic story of a great tragedy involving a class of drugs still on the market. It reveals why the same medical system that brings us lifesaving treatments can create a catastrophe almost beyond imagining." "The story begins with a new heart drug created in the research laboratories of the 3M Company. In animals, this drug appears unusually effective in suppressing irregular heartbeats. Hoping for a blockbuster, 3M launches clinical tests in humans and plans how to seize the market from competing companies. But as medical researchers test Tambocor, as the drug is called, the first signs of potential trouble appear. At Stanford University, a doctor warns that this type of powerful drug may be dangerous. Other experiments fail to demonstrate the expected benefits of such drugs. But with the support of their clinical doctors and with millions of dollars invested in Tambocor, 3M moves ahead and seeks approval from the FDA. Other companies also follow suit with similar drugs." "Questions about the safety of Tambocor have already reached the medical review staff at the FDA in Washington, D.C., where a behind-the-scenes drama takes place. 3M presses for approval of Tambocor, while the FDA staff tries to interpret the meaning of reports that some patients who have taken the drug suddenly drop dead. Without a green light from the FDA, Tambocor may be doomed." "The final chapters in the story unfold as 3M gets to the marketplace and, using all the skills of a modern pharmaceutical manufacturer, persuades doctors to use Tambocor. At the same time, an important clinical trial begins. The National Institutes of Health launch an experiment with more than a thousand patients to measure the benefits of Tambocor and two similar drugs. The shocking results of that study and the response of the doctors and companies who promoted these drugs bring the tragedy to a powerful conclusion." "Deadly Medicine is a human story about the brilliant and driven doctors who worked on Tambocor and similar heart drugs - at pharmaceutical companies, within the FDA, and at university medical research centers. It provides a vivid and disturbing account of the system by which drugs are discovered, tested, and marketed to doctors. Through the tragic story of how tens of thousands of patients died prematurely from one class of heart drugs, Deadly Medicine also exposes major flaws in this system."--BOOK JACKET.Title Summary field provided by Blackwell North America, Inc. All Rights Reserved

PRESCRIPTION DRUGS ARE THE THIRD LEADING CAUSE OF DEATH AFTER HEART DISEASE AND CANCER. In his latest ground-breaking book, Peter C Gotzsche exposes the pharmaceutical industries and their charade of fraudulent behaviour, both in research and marketing where the morally repugnant disregard for human lives is the norm. He convincingly draws close co

Significant changes have taken place in the policy landscape surrounding cannabis legalization, production, and use. During the past 20 years, 25 states and the District of Columbia have legalized cannabis and/or cannabidiol (a component of cannabis) for medical conditions or retail sales at the state level and 4 states have legalized both the medical and recreational use of cannabis. These landmark changes in policy have impacted cannabis use patterns and perceived levels of risk. However, despite this changing landscape, evidence regarding the short- and long-term health effects of cannabis use remains elusive. While a myriad of studies have examined cannabis use in all its various forms, often these research conclusions are not appropriately synthesized, translated for, or communicated to policy makers, health care providers, state health officials, or other stakeholders who have been charged with influencing and enacting policies, procedures, and laws related to cannabis use. Unlike other controlled substances such as alcohol or tobacco, no accepted standards for safe use or appropriate dose are available to help guide individuals as they make choices regarding the issues of if, when, where, and how to use cannabis safely and, in regard to therapeutic uses, effectively. Shifting public sentiment, conflicting and impeded scientific research, and legislative battles have fueled the debate about what, if any, harms or benefits can be attributed to the use of cannabis or its derivatives, and this lack of aggregated knowledge has broad public health implications. The Health Effects of Cannabis and Cannabinoids provides a comprehensive review of scientific evidence related to the health effects and potential therapeutic benefits of cannabis. This report provides a research agendaâ€"outlining gaps in current knowledge and opportunities for providing additional insight into these issuesâ€"that summarizes and prioritizes pressing research needs.

She killed for thrills. The sensational story of nurse Genene Jones shocked a nation as more than 30 children were murdered by an angel of mercy. This is the whole story, from the doctors that hired her to the trial that followed. Featured in Redbook. Martin's.

The true-crime story of a Massachusetts nurse with a dark secret, by the New York Times bestselling author of The Girl Left Behind. At the Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Northampton, Massachusetts, Kristen Gilbert was known as a hardworking, dedicated nurse. Yet so many emergencies and sudden deaths occurred under Kristen's watch that others jokingly called her the “Angel of Death.” No one suspected the horrifying truth: that over the course of six months, Gilbert had caused the deaths of as many as forty patients. With new insight into the sociopathic mindset of nurses who kill, and the latest details on Gilbert's ongoing prison sentence, M. William Phelps exposes how one person's good intentions went so chillingly, killingly wrong . . . Praise for Perfect Poison “True crime at its best—compelling, gripping, an edge-of-the-seat thriller. Phelps packs wallops of delight with his skillful ability to narrate a suspenseful story.” —Harvey Rachlin, award-winning author of Song and System “A compelling account of terror . . . the author dedicates himself to unmasking the psychopath with facts, insight, and the other proven methods of journalistic leg work.” —Lowell Cauffiel, New York Times bestselling author of House of Secrets Includes sixteen pages of dramatic photos

This textbook provides an overview of pain management useful to specialists as well as non-specialists, surgeons, and nursing staff.

Winner of the 2010 Pulitzer Prize for Poetry Winner of the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry (2010) Winner of the National Book Critics Circle Award (2009) Rae Armantrout has always organized her collections of poetry as though they were works in themselves. Versed brings two of these sequences together, offering readers an expanded view of the arc of her writing. The poems in the first section, Versed, play with vice and versa, the perversity of human consciousness. They flirt with error and delusion, skating on a thin ice that inevitably cracks: "Metaphor forms / a crust / beneath which / the crevasse of each experience." Dark Matter, the second section, alludes to more than the unseen substance thought to make up the majority of mass in the universe. The invisible and unknowable are confronted directly as Armantrout's experience with cancer marks these poems with a new austerity, shot through with her signature wit and stark unsentimental thinking. Together, the poems of Versed part us from our assumptions about reality, revealing the gaps and fissures in our emotional and linguistic constructs, showing us ourselves where we are most exposed. A reader's companion is available at http://versedreader.site.wesleyan.edu/