Customer Reviews

The Nutcracker Is Already Dancing: The Hivs & the Hiv-Nots

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1 star:		(3)

 

 

Dr. Savitch is not simply crying "The Sky is Falling". In addition to this incredibly informative book, he is an infectious disease specialist with 20 years of experience-devoted to caring for HIV/AIDS patients. He knows his subject very well. I think alot of us have been misled by the media into believing that HIV is basically a homosexual issue and that there is a cure that will soon be available. The truth is that we are not even close to a cure. 50% of all reported new cases are women and the statistics of minorities and inner city reported cases are staggering. As of the October 3rd, 2000...HIV is still not reported in California as a 'contagious disease' to the Public Health Department. There is currently a bill up before the Calfornia State Legislature that, if passed, would jail any physician who reports an HIV patient to the Public Health Department. How ludicrous is this. All reported cases now are a consequence of a 10 year delay that follows contracting the HIV virus. In that 10 year period of time, people of all sexual predispositions that are infected with the virus are basically walking around as 'loaded weapons'. Dr. Savitch is advocating mandatory testing for the purpose of performing counseling and doing 'contact tracing'. His call appears idealistic at first. Upon further inspection it is easy to see that if only 20% of the population is able to curtial sexual activity upon notification of carrying the virus- then we will have the time we need to continue to work and find a cure. The Nutcracker is Still Dancing... is a startling account and update of the situation and should be required reading at the primary and secondary grade level. You should read this book.

Dr. Cary Savitch tells it like it is. He gives us a dose of sanity and clears up the dangerous misconceptions attributed to the plight of AIDS. I thank him for his courage in writing this book.

Dr. Savitch has delivered a "straight talk" book on a critical issue which cannot be ignored. His book is on target! I have recommended it be ordered for AIDS AWARENESS WEEK on campus. Thank you Dr. Savitch!!

After hearing Cary speak to our medical staff last spring, I decided I needed to read his book. This is very urgent information and it matters to all of us. Though some of the content is repetitive, it is needed to make the point. We have been mis-lead. We need HIV testing and reporting and Cary shows us why.

This Book has changed the way I think about this infection and will change what I do. I will use gloves more consistently, and I will test more of my patients for HIV. My wife and I will have an HIV test as soon as we can. Now I understand why we all need to know our HIV status to help us stop the spread of this deadly virus.

this book will change the way you think about HIV. It is entertaining and yet sobering. Read it and then read chapter 37 to your children--NOW before it is too late. As Cary says,"One Mistake and you are dead." Daniel J Bibelheimer, MD Nevada City, CA

After a difficult reading of a well-written and compassionate book, I found my views of AIDS and 'safe sex'changed dramatically. No longer can I live in a complacent comfortable world. AIDS is here to stay and we are all responsible and affected, no matter who we are. The world must change it's legal outlook on this horrible disease and take drastic measures as this epidemic escalates expotentially every day. This is the "doomsday bug" and we must protect the future generations. No more greed or selfishness. Dr. Savitch has laid the cards out on the table like no one else before. It is time to take heed.

This is an important book. Every person who reads it will surely make changes in his/her behavior and have HIV testing whether or not he/she is in a "risk" group (as Dr. Savitch points we are all in a risk group). If enough of us read this book, perhaps we can force the recreation of a functioning public health system. Thank you, Dr. Savitch.

This book is more than necessary for today's society. With so much misinformation about HIV/AIDS, it's important to read a book by someone who deals with the disease everyday and knows exactly what he is talking about. Dr. Savitch has written a book with compassion and understanding about a subject that many people still consider taboo. To think that he is being alarmist or dramatic is irresponsible and unrealistic.

this book is unconscionable! not only does it try to scare people with the whole "one strike and you're dead" type moralism, it proffers scientifically inaccurate information -- such as "kissing is unsafe" and "everyone with HIV will die." and the need for mandatory testing and surveillance is idiotic! if people have seroconverted within the past ten years, it is most likely because they have practiced unsafe sex -- which means it is necessary for individuals to be aware of what is risky and what is not. mandatory testing won't solve this problem since a) even if it were implemented, there would simply be no way to monitor the behavior of individuals without some quasi-fascist infringement upon our civil liberties. b) since a negative test result is valid only up to the previous three months, there is too much of a margin of error to make such strategies effective. It doesn't take a genius to figure out that that won't work. and I can't believe the author has the audacity to say that even if a person chooses to live a life of celibacy, there always the risk that they could be accidentally pricked by a needle or splashed with blood. how often does that happen? By his logic, all major airlines would be forced to shut down, and automobiles would be banned, since far more people die in those types of accidents then from such freak occurences. FAR MORE! Words cannot express the dangers of reading such uninformed filth.

This book is a yet another paranoid effort to exploit the fear around HIV. The author's facts are often not cited, and absurd "the average life span for gay men is 42 yrs old". Anyone with half a brain knows that there is no way to make that statement, no way to build a study (how do you identify those men who have sex with men and don't identify as gay)which would give this statistic. Yet another attempt to exploit HIV for financial gain! ugh! don't waist your time or money.

this book is unconscionable! not only does it try to scare people with the whole "one strike and you're dead" type moralism, it proffers scientifically inaccurate information -- such as "kissing is unsafe" and "everyone with HIV will die." and the need for mandatory testing and surveillance is idiotic! if people have seroconverted within the past ten years, it is most likely because they have practiced unsafe sex -- which means it is necessary for individuals to be aware of what is risky and what is not. mandatory testing won't solve this problem since a) even if it were implemented, there would simply be no way to monitor the behavior of individuals without some quasi-fascist infringement upon our civil liberties. b) since a negative test result is valid only up to the previous three months, there is too much of a margin of error to make such strategies effective. It doesn't take a genius to figure out that that won't work. and I can't believe the author has the audacity to say that even if a person chooses to live a life of celibacy, there always the risk that they could be accidentally pricked by a needle or splashed with blood. how often does that happen? By his logic, all major airlines would be forced to shut down, and automobiles would be banned, since far more people die in those typoes of accidents then from such freak occurences. FAR MORE! Words cannot express the dangers of reading such uninformed filth.