Overdosed America: The Broken Promise of American Medicine (Hardcover)

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Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

According to Abramson, Americans are overmedicated and overmedicalized as a result of the commercialization of health care. Falling prey to marketing campaigns, we demand unnecessary and expensive drugs and procedures, believing they constitute the best possible medical care. Wrong, says Abramson: though more post–heart attack procedures are performed in the U.S. than in Canada, one-year survival rates are the same. Similarly, notes Abramson, a former family practitioner who teaches at Harvard Medical School, we spend more on high-tech neonatology than other Western countries but have a higher infant-mortality rate because of inattention to low-tech prenatal care. Abramson deconstructs the scientific sleight of hand in presenting clinical trial results that leads to the routine prescription of pricey cholesterol-lowering drugs even when their effectiveness has not been proven; he examines what he calls "supply-sensitive medical services"—the near-automatic use of medical technologies, such as cardiac catheterization, less because they are needed than because they are available. Abramson's bottom line: "More care doesn't necessarily mean better care." Arguing firmly that doctors should focus more on lifestyle changes to improve health, Abramson seems less credible when he writes off depression as "exercise-deficiency disease" and disposes of cancer in little more than a page. Still, he makes a powerful and coherent case that American medicine has gone badly astray and needs a new paradigm—one untainted by profits.
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Review

"A powerful and coherent case that American medicine has gone badly astray and needs a new paradigm--one untainted by profits." -- Publishers Weekly

"A powerful and coherent case that American medicine has gone badly astray." -- Publishers Weekly

"Abramson’s book will have you rethinking your relationship with your doctor and your health." -- The Oregonian (Portland)

"Acompelling and well-docmented analysis... a book every American should read." -- Elliott Fisher, MD, MPH, Professor of Medicine, Dartmouth Medical School

"Before you see a doctor, you should read this book." -- Eric Schlosser, author of Fast Food Nation

"Enlightening." -- Washington Post Book World

"Essential for all those who want to intelligently reclaim responsibility for their own health." -- Cheryl Richardson, author of Take Time for Your Life, Life Makeovers and Stand Up for Your Life

"Fulfills the criteria for high quality in health services: the right diagnosis and the right prescription at the right time." -- Barbara Starfield, MD, MPH, University Distinguished Professor, Johns Hopkins University & Medical Institutions

"OVERDOSED AMERICA reveals the greed and corruption that drive health care costs skyward and now threaten the public health." -- Eric Schlosser, author of Fast Food Nation

"The real story about the drugs we take--this book should be read by everyone before they pop another pill." -- Susan Love, MD, MBA

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 352 pages
• Publisher: HarperCollins (September 21, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0060568526
• ISBN-13: 978-0060568528
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.3 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (58 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #318,745 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

136 of 139 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars More shattering about the public's health than Silent Spring, October 13, 2004

By	1voracious reader (Home, USA) - See all my reviews

Dr. Abramson's book concerns the influence that pharmaceutical companies have on physicians' knowledge. Chapter by chapter, he discusses the top selling medications prescribed in America and explains, in detail, all of the clinical trials that support the use of the medications. Then, he explains how the clinical trials were conducted (usually with the pharmaceutical companies preferred methods) and what the statistics behind the clinical trials REALLY support.

As a consumer who believed until recently was an "informed consumer," I was shocked to discover that the information I was getting on the National Institute for Health's website "pubmed.org" was less than definitive when it came to clinical trials. With Dr. Abramson's book, I now understand that those clinical trials, which most doctors depend on in helping them treat their patients are wildly distorted.

I applaud Dr. Abramson for writing this book. Just as Rachel Carson's book Silent Spring served as a catalyst for supporting changes in how we respect our environment, physicians, consumers and politicians should read this book and take action to protect our nation's health.

I think before another advertisement for a medication is splashed before our televisions, computers and magazines, there should be a warning box that reads "This medication may be dangerous to your health, so discuss alternatives with your doctor before trying it!"

This book was the most important book that I've read in the last few years and I thank Dr. Abramson for taking the time to write it and making it "user friendly."

102 of 106 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Finally, a doctor speaks out..., October 18, 2004

By	Louise B. Kahn "RN, MSN, CPNP" (Albuquerque, NM, USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

As a community health nurse, I have been observing the increasing commercialization of medicine and medical knowledge over the past decade. Dr. Abramson has hit the nail on the head - while the cost of health care continues to rise, the quality of the care and the outcomes have not increased. It is a travesty that the elderly and patients suffering from chronic conditions are being hoodwinked into choosing between food and pills , and that we are not focusing on lifestyle changes that will enhance and prolong the quality of life.

50 of 50 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars From one Physician to Another - THANK YOU, December 2, 2005

By	A reader who is "unsupervized" (Dallas, TX USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Overdosed America : The Broken Promise of American Medicine (Hardcover)

I have been a physician for 10 years. I have seen my profession gradually being taken over by the pharmaceutical industry. I have seen countless patients harmed - alas even killed - by drug reactions and polypharmacy.

I have sat and listened to countless drug representative presentations that were outright falsehoods and misrepresentations. It has been months - maybe even years that I have had available to me a medical education conference that was not somehow tainted by drug company money and therefore propaganda.

I have repeatedly had patients in my office begging me for medication that they do not need. They want it simply because it was on TV News last night - and came with a promise of metaphysical salvation. I spend much time every day dissuading patients from taking medication they simply do not need - indeed may even cause real medical problems.
The issues that are discussed in this book are very very real - and the scary part is I do not see my fellow physicians doing a single thing to address these huge problems.

Dr. Abramson - thank you for hopefully what will be the opening salvo in a very important battle.