Coronary: A True Story of Medicine Gone Awry (Hardcover)

by Stephen Klaidman (Author)
Key Phrases: cath report, angiographic film, unwarranted procedures, Redding Medical Center, Las Vegas, Mike Skeen (more...)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly
Father John Corapi, a former accountant, was urged in 2002 to have immediate triple bypass surgery at Redding Medical Center. In fact, his coronary arteries were normal, and he and a former colleague persuaded the FBI to launch a criminal fraud investigation against the for-profit hospital, a renowned Northern California medical institution, and its two rainmakers, cardiologist Chae Hyun Moon and chief of cardiac surgery Fidel Realyvasquez. It soon became clear that the egotistical, abrasive, chain-smoking Moon and the highly ambitious, self-promoting Realyvasquez were performing numerous unnecessary procedures on gullible patients, with devastating consequences. Among the egregious examples of medical misconduct were unnecessary bypasses performed on Paul Alexandre, who became an invalid at age 36 after his sternum was permanently damaged during surgery, and on Shirley Wooten, a lively golden-ager whose surgery led to a fall that caused a fatal cerebral hemorrhage. Although it suffers from veteran newsman Klaidman's (Saving the Heart) lack of access to Moon and Realyvasquez, this well-researched and ably written account offers solid proof that American medicine is indeed "a mess." Readers may think the same about the legal system after learning that Alexandre and Wooten received only six-figure settlements while the Corapi walked away with millions, and neither doctor was prosecuted for a crime. (Jan.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist
If veteran journalist Klaidman wanted to show how to corrupt an already faulty medical system, he couldn't have chosen a better subject than the Redding (California) Medical Center scandal. All it took was a hospital owned by a multibillion-dollar corporation, Tenet Healthcare; two overly ambitious physicians; and thousands of people, including private insurers and Medicare personnel, willing to overlook questionable diagnoses. Millions were paid out for thousands of unnecessary bypass surgeries and other equally unjustifiable procedures. The compensation of cardiologist Chae Hyun Moon and cardiac surgeon Fidel Realyvasquez were directly tied to the profits of the hospital's heart program. And dozens of misdiagnosed patients suffered irreparable damage to their health, including death. Klaidman shows, too, a judicial system that allowed the physicians to walk away--no criminal charges were filed--and awarded cash settlements to victims and their families that, in the end, amounted to little more for the corporation than the cost of doing business. A story that grabs like fiction but frightens like fact. Donna Chavez
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 320 pages
• Publisher: Scribner; 1 edition (January 9, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0743267540
• ISBN-13: 978-0743267540
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6.3 x 1.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (48 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #81,547 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars must read for locals, February 14, 2007

By	Heather (Redding, CA) - See all my reviews

This was a relatively fair telling of the RMC scandal that hit our community a few years back. Klaidman tries to present a complete picture of the main players to the readers and for those who are familiar with the story and the area, it is fascinating. I don't think he was fair, however, in saying that the local public was oblivious to what was going on. Many of us were quite aware of the overdiagnosis and excessive sugery but were only able to steer those we knew away from Moon and RV. We felt pretty powerless to stop a huge corporation and it's power-hungry minions.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Fantastic book...Scary Story, June 7, 2007

By	Bufo RN (California) - See all my reviews

This book reads easily, is full of suspense and intrigue like a novel. It is so amazing that this could have gone on! Being an RN myself, I can't imagine the total lack of peer review that apparently was the norm at RMC. My mother is also an RN who worked there with Moon and says the author's account of him rings absolutely true to her. This book needs to be read by more of the public to help them understand the mess the healthcare industry is and how important it is to be knowledgeable healthcare consumers. A big thanks to Klaidman for laying out this convoluted story in such a readable way!

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars If You Don't Believe the Medical Profession Takes Care of It's Own..., May 14, 2007

By	Benjamin Glass "BenGlassLaw" (Fairfax Station, VA USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

"Coronary" is a pretty quick and interesting read. The story is really scary, kind of like COMA (25th Anniversary Edition) in real life.

What will really interest lay readers but is not particularly news to those of us who are attorney who represent malpractice victims is this: the extent of "turning a blind eye" or outright cover up that some in the medical profession will choose to do rather than turn in a politically powerful doctor who is not just hurting, but in some cases, killing people.

It's not until the civil lawyers get involved, frankly, that this house of cards (the massive amount of unnecessary procedures being done which seemed to financially support not only the hospital where they were taking place but the local country club as well)falls apart.

Folks, this is simply not all that unusual in the real world. This book would also be a good gift for anyone who thinks that we ought to limit damages in malpractice cases. California's silly arbitrary limit on damages nearly kept all of the civil lawyers out of the case completely, because the financial risk to the lawyers was too great compared to California's measly recovery limits for malpractice victims.