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16 of 16 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Practical Advice and Valuable Information For All Of Us, May 11, 2007
This review is from: What You Don't Know Can Kill You: A Physician's Radical Guide to Conquering the Obstacles to Excellent Medical Care (Paperback)
Well, I'll say one thing right away. I wish this was the book I had in my hands last year when I was hospitalized for a cardiac problem. "What You Don't Know Can Kill You" by Dr. Laura Nathanson is a valuable guide to walking through the miasma of the world of current medical practice. Having this book at hand, for instance, would have caused me to question much more intensely the rather exorbitant bill (in my opinion) from the initial emergency room visit -- I mean, over three thousand dollars for a couple of hours stay and not that much was done for me, except to recommend that I go to a cardiac center for treatment. I still don't know what charges in detail were on the bill since I never received an itemized bill. And I thoughtlessly let it go at that. No more, after reading this book. Next time will be a different story.
The purpose of this book is to help us protect ourselves and our loved ones from medical disasters, most of which may be preventable with just a little knowledge of the medical game. Our health care system has become so complex and, from the view of the ordinary consumer, so frustrating and impenetrable that professional help is needed. And Nathanson is apparently committed to helping with this task. She also has a personal interest in the project. She was widowed after the misdiagnosis of her husband.
Nathanson divides her work into four parts: (1) The Dicey Diagnosis; (2) In The Hospital; (3) Afterwards; and (4) a Workbook to use, which walks you through medical charts, physician narratives, data reports, and so forth. The first part provides some "red flags" to be aware of during the diagnosis stage. The second part discusses the "sensitive" sentinel, the "vigilant" sentinel, and the "hypervigilant" sentinel. In other words, be on your guard, whether it's you or someone else that's involved in medical treatment. Be forewarned. Be watchful. Ask. Don't assume. Be "vigilant." Valuable recommendations these days.
While this is a very practical guide to see one through any medical experience, Nathanson's narrative is very personal as she relates her own experiences as she goes through the trials and tribulations with her husband's problems, which eventually results in his death. One can only sympathize with her in this regard. But one can also learn much from her own personal experience and she freely contributes that to us and for that I thank her. I only wish I had had this book in hand last year!
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12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
A good tool for today's patient, June 6, 2007
This review is from: What You Don't Know Can Kill You: A Physician's Radical Guide to Conquering the Obstacles to Excellent Medical Care (Paperback)
Dr. Nathanson's husband was diagnosed with a deadly, but treatable, form of cancer that tragically took his life. And much of the tragedy rests in the fact that his tumor went undiagnosed for nearly a year, despite several evaluations by physicians. As a result, she has written a book for the patient designed to help people get actively involved in their own healthcare and take a role in preventing the sorts of medical errors that undoubtedly played a role in her husband's death.
She educates the reader on how to navigate their medical records. She teaches how to spot certain terms that could represent problems in their care, how to determine if their physician is certain of a diagnosis and if the "scary things" have been effectively ruled out, and how to know when they are being cared for by medical students, residents or fully qualified physicians. She encourages and instructs people to comb through their records and push aside the nearly 90% of impertinent material to find the things that play a key role in their health status. She has devised a method that any person, with or without prior medical knowledge, could use.
What Dr. Nathanson has done is made it clear to people that mistakes happen in medicine, and the diligent patient or family member can do their part to help minimize these mistakes. As a physician, I see this as a good thing. Any physician who feels threatened by Dr. Nathanson's efforts should seriously re-evaluate his ego. The patient is central in medicine and should always be, so any instrument that minimizes or potentially minimizes harmful outcomes for the patient is an instrument that should be welcomed in the medical community. Unfortunately, such instruments in the past have often been brought about by government bureaucracies that do nothing but add more paperwork and headache for healthcare workers while doing little for the patients themselves. This is not the case with Dr. Nathanson's book, and is thus a refreshing concept. I agree with her notion that patients can have a profound impact on their own care if they take an active role in that care, and I salute her for putting this book out. My only concern would be that even though her message is clear to me, some may interpret her words to mean "don't trust your doctor." I certainly hope this will not be the case as it can be very detrimental to the doctor-patient relationship, and I would caution readers to avoid slipping into this way of thinking. With that said, all in all this book is well-done and can potentially have a lasting impact in the medical world.
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9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
This book belongs in all homes!, May 19, 2007
This review is from: What You Don't Know Can Kill You: A Physician's Radical Guide to Conquering the Obstacles to Excellent Medical Care (Paperback)
Even if you are in good health, this is a must read book for when you or someone you love is sick.Written by a doctor who lost her husband to a mis-diagnosis,shows that it can happen even to the people on the inside!
The author will teach you how to stay calm and how to read the lingo that is swirling around above your head in the time of need! She gives you tricks in boiling down the test results to language you will understand,the red flags you should look for in any medical situation.
The author has included work sheets in the back so you can learn how to keep track of everything going on during your emergency!
This is a book to read NOW, not when you need it and are under a good deal of stress.Just read it,work with it and down the road, you will glad that you did!
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