Galileo's Lawyer: Courtroom Battles in Alternative Health, Complementary Medicine and Experimental Treatments (Paperback)

~ Richard A. Jaffe (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Review

If you are someone with an interest in alternative or holistic health . . . Galileo's Laywer is required reading. Written by Richard Jaffe, Esq., a noted defense attorney who has battled for years in the trenches fighting to preserve freedom of choice in healthcare, and to protect the rights of those who dare to make a difference in their patients' lives by practicing out of the mainstream of traditional medical thought. Galileos Lawyer manages to accomplish something not often seen in books of this type - it is both educational and reveting. Jaffe represented the Houston complementary and alternative medicine pioneer, Stanislaw Burzynski, in what Jaffe describes as The Burzynski Wars. If you are somewhat new to the idea of alternative health, you will find Galileo's Lawyer eye-opening. If you have some experience in this realm, the book will only confirm what you have always susptects, as Jaffe deftly details the courtroom wars and the governmental and special interest group over-reaching that has been the norm in the alternative heathcare arena. Galileo's Laywer makes it easy to see the importance of protecting the individual's right to choose the type of healthcare options to follow, along with the need to bring balance and reasonableness to the government's role in policing healthcare. As Jaffe points out, this balancing act continues, and it is up to each of us to be aware and be informed about the issues. --Enjoy Whole Health, June 2008

Product Description

Galileo's Lawyer is an insider's view of the Alternative Health field based on the legal battles between medical mavericks,their patients, and the government and the church of medical orthodoxy. The book relates courtroom dramas such as the government's fourteen year battle against the Burzynski Cancer Clinic in Houston. It also tells how the government stopped a promising stem cell treatment, explains the battles between nutritionists and the registered dietitians, describes how New Jersey chiropractors fought against the government (and won), explains why naturopaths are prosecuted for practicing medicine without a license, and presents other stories involving experimental treatments and medical pioneers.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 289 pages
• Publisher: Thumbs UP Press; 1st edition (July 2, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0980118301
• ISBN-13: 978-0980118308
• Product Dimensions: 8.7 x 6 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #350,940 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An Advocate for Freedom of Medical Care Choices, May 7, 2008

By	Mary L. Esty "Provider" (Washington DC) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Galileo's Lawyer is an eye-opening page turner that will shock all those who think we have freedom of choice in medical care for conditions for which standard medical treatments are inadequate at best. The power of our medical church-like establishment that exerts behind-the-scenes control over our options is largely invisible in most circumstances. If you think the FDA, and medical boards are on your side, and really know what is best for your health, then this book isn't for you! If you are willing to be surprised, perhaps even stunned, by the arrogance and hidebound beliefs of the current system, you will savor the knowledge that there are practitioners, and lawyers, who do their best to deliver options and hope to those who have been backed into a corner. If ever there was a sound argument for overhauling our health care system this book is a fundamental part of the reason we need structural change.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Jaffe slays the legal dragon to protect terminally ill patients and their doctors from legal medical abuse., August 16, 2008

By	R. Deschner (San Antonio, TX USE) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

With a self-deprecating wit, lighthearted touch and a schoolboy's delight in describing his big bully adversaries, Richard Jaffe tells wonderful stories spanning several decades of his hapless but ultimately effective struggles to legally represent and protect a range of dedicated health care practitioners and researchers who just wanted to offer safe innovative treatments to terminally ill patients and to give these patients an alternative to being further tortured by medical treatments that their traditional doctors knew did not work.

Like the small town coach that doesn't know how his scrawny little team keeps winning in the big leagues but who keeps going anyway, Jaffe shares his desperate strategies and creative "hail Mary" legal motions that have allowed judges to rule for his clients with over-whelming odds stacked against them and that have created legal precedents which have given us all better health care options.

It warms my heart to hear about an attorney who fights for the medical underdog and for their helpless patients against laws that force these patients to be needlessly tortured by medical treatments that are known to be ineffective and dangerous.

It is even better to find a brilliant attorney with a big heart and sense of humor willing to fight against the almost unlimited, brute force legal machine backed by the big pharmaceutical companies, the AMA, the FDA and other government agencies.

May Richard Jaffe continue to do his work and to write books that inspire us all.

5.0 out of 5 stars Government far off track, January 19, 2009

By	geminga - See all my reviews

It was amazing to me how far astray the government will go to absolutely destroy those who are doing no harm in the alternative health industry.Wait till you read how your tax dollars are spent. The author also shines a light on the process of getting alternative methods of treatment to the public. It seems that one must be fabulously wealthy and well connected with the FDA. I learned alot about the seeming vendictiveness of the government against Doctors who are truely working for the public good and must risk all to do it. The cases presented are truly profiles in courage. It shows that the system for those exploring alternative treatments is in serious need of re-thinking. One can't help but hypothecize that big pharma is behind the ruthlessness of the pursuit to get these treatments out of public access. Very good read.