Taking the Medicine [Import] [Hardcover]

Druin Burch (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 9, 2009

Burch’s controversial argument is that for most of human history medicine has been a catastrophe, and emphasizes how little and how much has changed, and how we need to make educated choices about the risks we swallow. Only then can the drugs of today and tomorrow save our lives.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"A fascinating history of the development of clinical trials and the thinking behind them."  —Literary Review

"A valuable inoculation against complacency."  —New Scientist

"Both an assault on the myths of the infallible doctor and a history of pharmacology . . . Burch makes a compelling case."  —Sunday Telegraph

"Each chapter is a self-contained pleasure to read, like mini-fables on the perils of medicine."  —Sunday Times

--This text refers to the Paperback edition.

About the Author

Druin Burch, 34, has worked in hospitals across south-east England. He teaches human evolution, physiology and ecology at Oxford and writes for medical journals, the Times Literary Supplement and the Guardian. This is his first book.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 336 pages
• Publisher: Chatto & Windus (February 9, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0701182784
• ISBN-13: 978-0701182786
• Product Dimensions: 6.3 x 1.1 x 9.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.3 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,300,186 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A book for everyone involved with health care, June 17, 2010

By 

Carl Bartecchi - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Taking the Medicine (Kindle Edition)

Taking the Medicine is an outstanding book which should be read by everyone involved with health care. Physicians and especially those in training to be physicians need to read this book. Many of the mistakes that have been made in medicine, from the earliest days and even until today could have been avoided if we were only able to learn from the mistakes of others that have gone before us. Burch nicely reviews a critical sampling of those mistakes. He discusses the history of the development of the all important randomised, controlled, clinical trials that have helped medicine to advance to it's present state of effectiveness, though still not without problems. Left unsaid is the alternative medicine establishment that appears threatened by such trials, favoring personal experiences and patient commentaries, both of which prove to be unreliable and destined to lead one astray. For the medical as well as the lay reader, Burch provides a wonderful history of therapies and how they came to be developed. Obviously well researched, this book provides many new and fascinating takes on medicines and how they came to be accepted by the medical community and utilized, though not always appropriately. New and often not so complementary insights into those who were once considered medical heroes are provided with discussions of how and where they went wrong.
Burch writes well and has proven capable of holding one's attention throughout the text.I will strongly recommend this book to the medical students that I teach.
Carl E. Bartecchi, M.D.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars How physicians kill, December 19, 2010

By 

Andrew Read - See all my reviews

This review is from: Taking the Medicine (Hardcover)

I stumbled on this brilliant book by accident. In an uninspiring airport bookshop, Taking the Medicine was the only thing which looked remotely like brain food. And WOW. Seldom have I read such a page-turner. Months later, I am still thinking about it. The publisher has done an amazing job of under-marketing this gem.

There is indeed much in it about medicine. But the overarching theme is bigger. It is an extraordinarily powerful case for the scientific method. For thousands of years, people calling themselves physicians and doctors have embodied the very essence of NOT-science, working instead on the basis of personal experience, half-baked theory, anecdotes, and wisdom handed down from eminent people. Most physicians still do. And, as this book shows, millions died as a consequence. And they continue to do so, even this century, in the US. If you have ever wondered what science really is about, or if you think science is just common sense, read this book. Burch paints a really startling picture of the lethal mess that can be generated by other ways of knowing.

Andrew Read PhD
Professor of Biology and Entomology, Penn State University

5.0 out of 5 stars Taking the Medicine:, December 27, 2011

By 

LBM - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Taking the Medicine: A Short History of Medicine's Beautiful Idea, and Our Difficulty Swallowing It (Paperback)

This book makes you appreciate the healthcare we have today. It makes you wonder why some people think the good old days were better and why some want to go back to what is not evidenced based.