From School Library Journal
Grade 9 Up-Presenting differing issues and points of view relating to the nation's health care crisis, Levitin discusses the interests and strategies of insurance companies, current technology and its related costs, medicine as a business, the effects of malpractice litigation, and the role of pharmaceutical companies. She describes managed competition and Canada's system of national health insurance as possible options. The text is clear and easy to read; the information is well organized. However, statements are occasionally vague and, despite efforts to be objective, the text is sometimes slanted by omission: "...there are 2,000 MRI scanners in the United States, and only 25 in all of England" fails to mention what an optimum number might be; "Black Americans wait twice as long for kidney transplants as white Americans" does not compare the number of donors from each race, nor does it mention how easy or difficult it may be to match patients with organs from donors of other races. The author often refers to the number of deaths per year versus costs, suggesting that a certain number of deaths may be justified in order to keep costs low; she does not address the coldness of that attitude. Researchers will find the detailed index and lengthy list of sources useful; anyone concerned about the subject will be better informed but maybe no less confused after reading this book.
Dona Weisman, Northeast Texas Library System, Garland
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Dona Weisman, Northeast Texas Library System, Garland
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.
From Booklist
Gr. 7^-12. Less a rehash of the media's common personal examples of the health care industry's failure than Sherrow's The U.S. Health Care Crisis , this careful examination of our country's health care system analyzes the major debates swirling around the controversies and seeks to prove or disprove each theory. The high cost of medical research, the insurance and pharmaceutical industries, and malpractice litigation all come under thoughtful scrutiny, as does the managed care of the Canadian-style system. Levitin expresses what the nation has come to realize: while there are no easy answers or obvious villains, we are all victims of the health care system on one level or another. Unlike Sherrow's book, the statistics here are meticulously documented; an unfortunate similarity is the lack of many primary sources. Frances Bradburn
