The Rise And Fall Of The American Medical Empire

There are four major dilemmas at work in the rapid decline of the United States' healthcare system: the disappearing primary care sector, healthcare insurance reform, the influence of the pharmaceutical industry on the practice of medicine, and reform of malpractice litigation. In this book, Dr. Robert A. Linden provides a comprehensive explanation of these dilemmas, from the perspective of a primary care physician who has spent 30 years working directly with patients and seeing first-hand how changes in the system have impacted patients and physicians. Dr. Linden sorts out the fragments of information that most readers get through the media and fills in the blanks to provide a clear picture of what's wrong with the U.S. healthcare system, an impartial review of proposed solutions, and a look at what other countries have done to reform their healthcare systems. Unlike many academician authors who have covered the problems only in part with skewed information, this book will finally help the healthcare consumer understand the problems facing us and form their own assessments of what should be done to restore the American healthcare system.

Is America an empire? Certainly not, according to our government. Despite the conquest of two sovereign states in as many years, despite the presence of more than 750 military installations in two thirds of the world’s countries and despite his stated intention "to extend the benefits of freedom...to every corner of the world," George W. Bush maintains that "America has never been an empire." "We don’t seek empires," insists Defense Secretary Rumsfeld. "We’re not imperialistic." Nonsense, says Niall Ferguson. In Colossus he argues that in both military and economic terms America is nothing less than the most powerful empire the world has ever seen. Just like the British Empire a century ago, the United States aspires to globalize free markets, the rule of law, and representative government. In theory it’s a good project, says Ferguson. Yet Americans shy away from the long-term commitments of manpower and money that are indispensable if rogue regimes and failed states really are to be changed for the better. Ours, he argues, is an empire with an attention deficit disorder, imposing ever more unrealistic timescales on its overseas interventions. Worse, it’s an empire in denial—a hyperpower that simply refuses to admit the scale of its global responsibilities. And the negative consequences will be felt at home as well as abroad. In an alarmingly persuasive final chapter Ferguson warns that this chronic myopia also applies to our domestic responsibilities. When overstretch comes, he warns, it will come from within—and it will reveal that more than just the feet of the American colossus is made of clay.

The Rise and Decline of the American "Empire" explores the rapidly growing literature on the rise and fall of the United States. The author argues that after 1945 the US has definitely been the most dominant power the world has seen and that it has successfully met the challenges from, first, the Soviet Union and, then, Japan, and the European Union. Now, however, the United States is in decline: its vast military power is being challenged by asymmetrical wars, its economic growth is slow and its debt is rising rapidly, the political system is proving unable to meet these challenges in a satisfactory way. While the US is still likely to remain the world's leading power for the foreseeable future, it is being challenged by China, particularly economically, and also by several other regional Great Powers. The book also addresses the more theoretical question of what recent superpowers have been able to achieve and what they have not achieved. How could the United States be both the dominant power and at the same time suffer significant defeats? And how could the Soviet Union suddenly collapse? No power has ever been omnipotent. It cannot control events all around the world. The Soviet Union suffered from imperial overstretch; the traditional colonial empires suffered from a growing lack of legitimacy at the international, national, and local levels. The United States has been able to maintain its alliance system, but only in a much reformed way. If a small power simply insists on pursuing its own very different policies, there is normally little the United States and other Great Powers will do. Military intervention is an option that can be used only rarely and most often with strikingly limited results.

NATIONAL BESTSELLER A thrilling new telling of the story of modern Canada's origins. The story of the Hudson's Bay Company, dramatic and adventurous and complex, is the story of modern Canada's creation. And yet it hasn't been told in a book for over thirty years, and never in such depth and vivid detail as in Stephen R. Bown's exciting new telling. The Company started out small in 1670, trading practical manufactured goods for furs with the Indigenous inhabitants of inland subarctic Canada. Controlled by a handful of English aristocrats, it expanded into a powerful political force that ruled the lives of many thousands of people--from the lowlands south and west of Hudson Bay, to the tundra, the great plains, the Rocky Mountains and the Pacific northwest. It transformed the culture and economy of many Indigenous groups and ended up as the most important political and economic force in northern and western North America. When the Company was faced with competition from French traders in the 1780s, the result was a bloody corporate battle, the coming of Governor George Simpson--one of the greatest villains in Canadian history--and the Company assuming political control and ruthless dominance. By the time its monopoly was rescinded after two hundred years, the Hudson's Bay Company had reworked the entire northern North American world. Stephen R. Bown has a scholar's profound knowledge and understanding of the Company's history, but wears his learning lightly in a narrative as compelling, and rich in well-drawn characters, as a page-turning novel.

Throughout the twentieth century, the U.S. government willingly deployed power, hard and soft, to protect American investments all around the globe. Why did the United States get into the business of defending its citizens' property rights abroad? The Empire Trap looks at how modern U.S. involvement in the empire business began, how American foreign policy became increasingly tied to the sway of private financial interests, and how postwar administrations finally extricated the United States from economic interventionism, even though the government had the will and power to continue. Noel Maurer examines the ways that American investors initially influenced their government to intercede to protect investments in locations such as Central America and the Caribbean. Costs were small--at least at the outset--but with each incremental step, American policy became increasingly entangled with the goals of those they were backing, making disengagement more difficult. Maurer discusses how, all the way through the 1970s, the United States not only failed to resist pressure to defend American investments, but also remained unsuccessful at altering internal institutions of other countries in order to make property rights secure in the absence of active American involvement. Foreign nations expropriated American investments, but in almost every case the U.S. government's employment of economic sanctions or covert action obtained market value or more in compensation--despite the growing strategic risks. The advent of institutions focusing on international arbitration finally gave the executive branch a credible political excuse not to act. Maurer cautions that these institutions are now under strain and that a collapse might open the empire trap once more. With shrewd and timely analysis, this book considers American patterns of foreign intervention and the nation's changing role as an imperial power.

Speaks directly to the person diagnosed with early-stage Alzheimer's and offers them the information they need to move ahead.

PLACE THE POWER OF HEALING IN YOUR HANDS > Are you or a loved one suffering with undiagnosed pain? > Does your doctor rush you out the door in less than 10 minutes after performing a superficial exam? > Does your doctor often interrupt you and not give you adequate time to describe the history of your illness? > Does your doctor only seem interested in treating your symptoms with another prescription and not looking for the underlying cause of your illness? Take back control of your health with these proven tools for solving your own health problems. THE FACTS: > 75% of illnesses are caused by external influences - which are easily recognized and analyzed by you. > Most ailments can be simply diagnosed by examining your problem history and the circumstances surrounding its development - information that you have. > Doctors typically spend only ten minutes examining you, but difficult and intractable problems require a deeper analysis - time that you have. > Most doctors prescribe drugs or surgery to treat your symptoms, which does not address the underlying cause of your problem. > Once you clearly pinpoint the source of your problem, a quick and painless permanent remedy can normally be found by removing the offending source - without drugs or surgery __________________________________________________________ Beginning with a fascinating case study of a patient who suffered for years with an undiagnosed severe illness but who quickly solved it himself following the systematic self-diagnostic process outlined in this book, Be Your Own HEALTH DETECTIVE equips you with proven tools to discover the quickest and least invasive solution to your personal problem. You can fill in the easy-to-use problem investigation template as the author walks you through the process, referencing many interesting health problems others have solved in a similar manner. Or you can wait until the end of the book and download the free worksheets to work through and solve your problem in one sitting. Instead of endlessly searching the Internet trying to find a problem matching your own, Be Your Own HEALTH DETECTIVE offers a clear and rigorous process for using the knowledge you have about your body and your personal history to quickly determine the root cause of the problem. True health empowerment starts with not always expecting others to cure us. You know your body and the history of your illness better than anyone and only YOU have the time, information, and motivation to find the most effective and least invasive solution for your health management needs. Download this book today to equip yourself with the expert tools thousands of others have successfully used to reclaim control over their health! A sampling of rave reviews from readers: "This is a brilliant book. It takes a holistic perspective and helps patients to think like Sherlock Holmes. I think every patient with an undiagnosed illness should read this. It will help them help their doctor to diagnose their illness." "It's like you're a diagnostician in the TV show 'House'. Empowering Information." "Its absolutely amazing how much one can deduce for oneself before a doctor visit. Simply wonderful!" "Two big thumbs up! This is a well-researched eye opener that is a must read. Highly recommended."

A comprehensive guide to the structure, synergy, and challengesin U.S. health care delivery Introduction to Health Care Services: Foundations andChallenges offers new insights into the most important sectorsof the United States' health care industry and the many challengesthe future holds. Designed to provide a comprehensive andup-to-date understanding of the system, this textbook covers themany facets of health care delivery and details the interaction ofhealth, environments, organizations, populations, and the healthprofessions. Written by authors with decades of experience teachingand working in health care administration and management, the bookexamines the current state and changing face of health caredelivery in the United States. Each chapter includes learningobjectives and discussion questions that help guide and engagedeeper consideration of the issues at hand, providing acomprehensive approach for students. Cases studies demonstratinginnovations in the delivery of health care services are alsopresented. Health care administration requires a thorough understanding ofthe multiple systems that define and shape the delivery of healthcare in the United States. At the same time, it is important forstudents to gain an appreciation of the dilemma confronting policymakers, providers, and patients in the struggle to balance cost,quality, and access. Introduction to Health Care Services:Foundations and Challenges is an in-depth examination of themajor health care issues and policy changes that have had an impacton the U.S. health care delivery system. Includes information on U.S. health care delivery, from care tocost, and the forces of change Focuses on major industry players, including providers,insurers, and facilities Highlights challenges facing health care delivery in thefuture, including physician shortages, quality care, and thechronic disease epidemic The U.S. health care system is undergoing major reform, and theeffects will ripple across every sector of the industry.Introduction to Health Care Services: Foundations andChallenges gives students a complete introduction tounderstanding the issues and ramifications.