Wall of Silence: The Untold Story of the Medical Mistakes that Kill and Injure Millions of Americans (Hardcover)

by Rosemary Gibson (Author), Janardan Prasad Singh (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Review
"A call to arms for families who have had loved ones disabled or dying in the pursuit of medical treatment... Well written and researched... highlights this timely topic in a unique way that will evoke the reader's own experiences."

Product Description
Medical mistakes are occurring with alarming frequency in this country. Nightly newscasts and daily newspapers tell of botched surgeries, mistaken patient identities, careless overdoses, and neglected diagnoses. You may have dismissed these stories as unfortunate mistakes, misunderstandings, or just isolated incidents with the occasional bad doctor. Wall of Silence reveals that these medical mistakes are not rare incidents. In fact, the real-life stories in this book show that medical mistakes increasing in frequency-and worse, that the system is designed more to cover up these errors than prevent them. With searing outrage and heartfelt compassion for the victims of medical mistakes, Gibson and Singh put human faces to the tragic numbers we read and hear about. Within these pages, you'll meet:

· An eight-year-old girl whose cries of pain from kidney cancer were dismissed by doctors, eventually leading to her permanent paralysis

· A rising young star in the federal government whose elective surgery has left him in unrelenting excruciating pain and unable to continue his

promising career

· A retired store manager whose botched colonoscopy resulted in a raging infection that nearly killed him

· A widower whose wife died from a cancer that was spotted four years before her death-but never treated Wall of Silence goes behind the scenes to expose how medical mistakes plague the entire health care system, including:

· How the "old-boy network" of physicians works to keep irresponsible doctors practicing on-and harming-unsuspecting patients

· How the tribal culture of hospital hierarchy among nurses, doctors, and technicians fosters dangerous-and sometimes fatal-miscommunication

about individual patients' treatment

· How sleep-deprived doctors-in-training, who routinely work 95 -hour weeks, endanger the lives of patients under their supervision Hospitals, insurance companies, HMOs, state medical boards, and medical associations also come under fire for turning a deaf ear to the claims of innocent victims and their families. Gibson and Singh shed light on the intimidation and other punishing tactics these bodies use to maintain the Wall of Silence. Wall of Silence is required reading for everyone who uses the health care system in America.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 256 pages
• Publisher: LifeLine Press (May 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 089526112X
• ISBN-13: 978-0895261120
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6.1 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #242,971 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Eye-opening, May 22, 2003

By A Customer

This is truly an enlightening book. I was amazed to find how frequently errors occur. Many, if not most, could easily be avoided if simple precautions were taken. It is really sad that we don't demand more from our medical facilities and government in this area. We as consumers/patients are denied information that would perhaps change our decisions regarding the doctors we choose and the facilities we use. No one is held accountable when mistakes happen. This kind of policy makes it almost impossible for real change to happen in healthcare. I hope this book inspires people to take issue with the problems and lobby for change.

This book also gives great advice on what to do to prevent medical errors from happening to you or a loved one.

12 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars "Wall of Silence", June 15, 2003

By	Diana Artemis (Washington, D.C.) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

High time a book like this was written putting a human face on the crisis of medical error running rampant in this country. It's time the public realizes what is happening and vocalizes a well-deserved and long-overdue sense of outrage!
Were any other industry guilty of killing the same amount of people per year -- conservative estimates put it at 98,000 per annum; which is the equivalent of one jumbo jet airliner crashing each day, every day throughout the year, year after year, unchecked -- we'd have Congressional inquiries and public demands for accountability and safety, in the same way we demand it of the aviation and chemical process industries.
The healthcare delivery industry touches every person's life and demands no less scutiny and accountability. We need national standards for safety, recognized protocols for handling accidents and 'near misses,' root cause analysis of medical-induced deaths and disabilities and plans for continuous improvement by providers. Most importantly, as this book reveals, we need the system to weed out bad doctors and recognize those who are providing excellent, commited service to the public.
This book puts a face on this pervasive epidemic -- takes the deaths and injuries out of front page, "it will never happen to me" sensationalism and puts it squarely in our own doctors' offices and community hospitals where a broken system continues to harm us and our loved ones without any clamor for improvement.
This book is a wake-up call for reform. I hope it has the same impact on the quality of medical care in this country as "Silent Spring" had on improving the health of our planet. Buy this book and read it today! Then get your Congressman/woman on the phone and demand full disclosure and accountability!

15 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Wall of Silence, June 10, 2003

By	Sandra K. Perfater (Charleston, WV) - See all my reviews

The Wall of Silence by Rosemary Gibson, is a MUST READ for all comsumers. I say all comsumers because all of us are subject to being the receipent of health care in our life time. As a retired Registered Nurse and also twice a victim of medical negligence, I encourage everyone to read this book of great information about how the medical system functions and how you can protect yourself and your family. Ms. Gibson cites enough examples of the horrendous things which can happen to any of us for the reader to understand how we must all change our "looking to the Gods in White" to being our own advocate for ourselves and our families. With 100,000 people dying every year from medical negligence, it is time we all scream at the top of our lungs to our legislators to make safe health care a number one prioity. Buy your own copy and one for a friend and don't re-sell them. Keep your copy for frequent reference.