Customer Reviews

When Every Moment Counts: What You Need to Know About Bioterrorism from the Senate's Only Doctor

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(7)

 

 

Bill Frist may be the Senate's only doctor, but he's no expert on bioterrorism. His opportunism in the wake of a serious tragedy is appalling. I know some of the Senate staffers who were exposed to anthrax, and many of the things he wrote in the book - and said at the time - simply aren't true. For example, Frist claims that Daschle staffers called his office for advice the day their letter was opened. Untrue. Frist was also known to have said after the death of Robert Stevens in Florida that there would never be another death from inhalation anthrax in America. Wrong - there were four more within a few weeks, and there might have been even more if some had not taken additional antibiotics and/or the anthrax vaccine (something Frist irresponsibly advised against). Frist loves to portray himself as the expert on all things medical, but he lacks the expertise to write this shallow, self-serving book, and he lacks the integrity to tell the truth.

I have worked in the field of Bioterrorism for 2 years now. I personally feel that books like this pose a certain danger. There is no quick fix for most types of bioterror, in the same way that duck and cover is no kind of real response to a nuclear blast. There is no real "family guide". The best protection is: 1. Establishing a good relationship with your family physician and 2. Preparing the standard disaster kit your family should own for the much more likely disasters- earthquakes, fires, floods, hurricanes, etc.
In a bioterror incident, it is your public health and medical systems that will protect you. Period. Make sure they are funded properly in your region.

I don't have any more time to waste on this book. It was painfully obvious what his agenda was for writing it, it definitely wasn't to inform or entertain.

The FEC (Federal Election Commission) found that Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist's 2000 Senate campaign committee, Frist 2000, Inc. violated federal campaign finance laws. "In June 2000, Senator Frist took $1 million of the money that had...... been contributed to his 2000 Senate campaign and invested it in the stock market, where it promptly began losing money. In November 2000, Senator Frist sought to collect $1.2 million he had lent his 1994 Senate campaign committee. As a result of the stock market losses, however, Frist 2000, Inc. did not have enough money to repay the loan. Senator Frist solved this problem by having the 1994 and the 2000 campaign committees jointly take out a $1.44 million bank loan at a cost of $10,000 a month interest. Frist 2000, Inc. did not report this debt on its FEC disclosure forms."[29] In both 2005 and 2006, Senator Frist was named one of the "Most Corrupt Members of Congress" [30] by government watchdog group Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington for ethics inquiries stemming from his troubles with the FEC and an investigation by the SEC for stock sales potentially based on inside information.[31]

This was a disappointing, boring read. I wouldn't recommend this book to anyone. I suppose I'll let it collect dust in my basement.

America was once a beacon of freedom. Prior to leaving the Senate, Bill Frist was leading the charge to take away our freedoms and lead this country far from where it was founded. Also, $154 for a paperback???

It seems some foreign bio terrorism agent had already started eating at this man's brain before he put pen to paper.

I knew I made a mistake when I purchased this. "The Senates Only Doctor"... Come on! Such self serving nonsense. Just because Frist is a Doctor doesn't mean he knows squat more about bio-terrorism than any other intelligent individual who does some basic research. I've done a lot of research on this subject and learned practically no new information from this book. Was very upset that there was no REAL "insider" information here. Everyone, if you spend some time, you can find everything in this book with just a few simple hours of internet research and save yourself the absurd price tag. $150 worth of readily available information from a "doctor."

Pictures show actual anthrax cases. I gave copies to medical friends of mine. Where I live, it's not that common----all the more reason to be informed about it.

Watching the news doesn't give you the whole the whole story on bioterror, but this book certainly does. It covers all the major threats you hear about (just the section on smallpox should be enough wake you up!), and includes some serious pictures of the effects of the the different agents. Don't miss chapter 2, "A Family Survival Guide". It is remarkably easy to read, and would also make an excellent reference book for a school library. The point of the book is that even though bioterror is a serious threat, with the right information we dont' have to live in fear. This book gives you that information.