Code Blue: Health Care In Crisis [Hardcover]

Edward R. Annis (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 25, 1993

I strongly suggest that the public read this book before swallowing the nostrum currently discussed nightly on the news. It could, one day, be the difference between living and dying. --The Philadelphia Inquirer

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

As a former president of the American Medical Association and the World Medical Association, Annis here issues a hospital-like Code Blue alarm at what he considers the threat of socialized medicine posed by Clinton's national health care reform plans--which, he charges, ignore the social ills that underlie many poverty-associated problems, i.e., drugs, sexual promiscuity and violence. Annis attributes these conditions largely to our welfare economy. He also blames the prospect of socialized medicine for the closing of hundreds of hospitals, and for the financial crises of thousands more. Advocating a return to a market economy, as opposed to the third-party government- and employer-associated insurance system envisioned by "managed competition" (the approach touted by the Clinton administration), the author argues that health maintenance organizations would restrict patients' choice of doctors and make specialists available only through primary-care physicians. In his lobbying polemic, Annis refers favorably to plans by the National Center for Policy Analysis and the Heritage Foundation, both of which "put the patient back in the driver's seat."
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Kirkus Reviews

Ill-tempered invective by a former president of the American Medical Association, railing against bureaucrats, malpractice lawyers, the press, and others whose morals or behavior offend him--and demanding a return to the days when doctors were ``well respected'' and medical care was ``available to all regardless of ability to pay.'' ``The Golden Age of Medicine'' is how Annis describes the era before LBJ's Great Society programs, when the author, now an octogenarian, was practicing family medicine and general surgery in Florida. Annis makes those years sound like an idyllic time for both doctors and patients: Bills were simple, patients paid promptly, and local medical societies ensured that physicians were both competent and ethical. Annis begins by relating his growing involvement with the AMA's fight against ``socialized medicine,'' a fight allegedly lost because of ``demagoguery,'' ``media distortion,'' and ``the cunning of the Americans for Democratic Action.'' He then describes the present state of health care, indeed the present state of our troubled society. As he sees it, where capitalism operates, society is productive, with community pride and strong family values; where socialism prevails, we find drug abuse, crime, violence, ignorance, and disrespect for authority and self. The key to the health-care crisis, then, is to let the free-market economy operate. Annis credits the National Center for Policy Analysis with a plan that will give people the freedom to choose their own health care and the ability to use their own earnings to pay for it. Details are sketchy. Strident and rancorous rhetoric by an experienced partisan- -one who knows how to attack but fails to persuade. -- Copyright ©1993, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 278 pages
• Publisher: Regnery Publishing, Inc.; 1 edition (September 25, 1993)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 089526515X
• ISBN-13: 978-0895265159
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.4 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,850,898 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars This book shows how MSAs empower patients., September 3, 1999

By 

Helen E. Faria (Macon, Ga) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Code Blue: Health Care In Crisis (Hardcover)

This is a great book. It shows how American medicine is being socialized to the detriment of patients.

On managed competition/care, the author observes, "Government cannot preserve high quality health care, prompt service, and freedom of choice without allowing health care providers the freedom to meet demand; Government cannot reduce the regulatory burden...government cannot apply price controls without creating shortages and rationing care...." Dr. Annis points out, "Finagle all they will, bureaucrats and entrepreneurs will never overcome the problem of excessive costs without correcting the basic flaw: the system of third-party payers, whether government or corporate."

Code Blue shows how with "minimal changes in our tax laws, Medisave accounts would empower the patient by breaking the tie between job and health insurance and even would allow the gradual phasing out of Medicare," wrote Jerome C. Arnett, Jr., M.D. for the Medical Sentinel.

Here are some pertinent comments from various publications:

"I strongly suggest that the public read this book before swallowing the nostrums currently discussed nightly on the news. It could, one day, be the difference between living or dying." -The Philadelphia Inquirer

"Dr. Annis' leadership of the AMA in the early 1960s, with his championing of the principles of individual rights and free markets, is in sharp contrast to the philosophy of the current AMA leadership, who refuse to confront the current administration but instead seem satisfied to ask for 'a seat at the table.' "-Jerome C. Arnett, Jr., M.D., Journal of the American Medical Association.

What the press has not told the public-but Dr. Annis does-is that health care problems have a "Made in Washington" label.

Miguel A. Faria, JR., M.D. is the author of Vandals at the Gates of Medicine---Historic Perspectives over the Battle for Health Care Reform, 1994.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Code Blue: Health Care in Crisis, January 2, 2001

By 

William Harrison (Daytona Beach, FL USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Code Blue: Health Care In Crisis (Hardcover)

Being a surgeon and having practised since 1954, I can highly recommend this work as very true and expertly written. This is one of the few works that gives a realistic picture of events of the times and will become a part of the history of this turbulent period. I can see why those exposed to the 'LIBERAL MEDIA" would not appreciate it as much as the younger generation has only been exposed to the views so accurately portrayed by others in this masterpiece.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars This book needs to be reprinted & widely circulated, August 22, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Code Blue: Health Care In Crisis (Hardcover)

Code Blue by Edward Annis is a fantastic study into the political history between the liberal and conservative movements. The front line of that battle has been in health care. Dr. Annis's acquaintance with many key players in this battle, throughout this century, offers us a rare opportunity to understand what is really happening to health care and our federal government. The two other reviewers here somewhat degrade the value of the book by their inability to check his references. One does not need references to believe his tales because what he predicted has come to pass. The 1996/1998 campaign battles and the current discussions in Congress prove the truth of this book. Americans should not face the 2000 campaign talks without a knowledge of the history presented in Code Blue. I bought and gave away this book 4 times and now treasure my only copy. If it's not going to be reprinted, I plan to see that it's truth gets widely published online.