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Suffer the Children: Flaws, Foibles, Fallacies and the Grave Shortcomings of Pediatric Care Kindle Edition
Harriet Hall M.D.
sciencebasedmedicine.org
“Dr. Palmieri has an admirably clear style and an enviable ability to explain scientific and medical concepts so that anyone can understand them… This is an excellent book that every parent and pediatrician should read and take to heart.”
Mama Mara,
“Science, medicine, and psychology for the discerning mommy”
"Suffer the Children is a comprehensive and accurate assessment of what needs to change in the practice of pediatrics. It should be read by the directors of every pediatric training program".
William Wilkoff, M.D.
Pediatrician and author, "Coping with a Picky Eater: A Guide for the Perplexed Parent"
Parents Beware:
The most dangerous place for children to visit are not schools or playgrounds but doctor's offices and hospitals. A Board Certified pediatrician with over 15 years of experience exposes the darkest secrets of his profession. Far from being the lucid application of scientific principles in the patient’s best interest, the practice of Pediatrics is often driven by the fear of lawsuits and the desire to please parents; hampered by human fallibility and time constraints; and tainted by conflicts of interest and greed. Unnecessary tests are routinely misinterpreted, leading physicians to label children with incorrect diagnoses, and to submit them to needless, harmful treatments. Too often, childhood health problems are approached with a breezy lack of discipline and a want of diligence.
Suffer the Children is an eye-opening confession, a candid portrayal of the unsatisfactory state of affairs in pediatric care, revealing the wide gulch that separates evidence-based precepts from the actual practice of Pediatrics. It shows how doctors routinely mismanage the most basic problems that bring children to their attention and catalogues alarming misconceptions held by many pediatricians. The book reveals common errors resulting from flawed thinking and it exposes unscrupulous practices based on financial conflicts of interest. Finally, it offers a road map to improve the quality of pediatric care while providing practical suggestions for parents to avert medical misadventures with their children.
- LanguageEnglish
- Publication dateMarch 7, 2011
- File size505 KB
Product details
- ASIN : B004R1QBCY
- Publisher : Smashwords Edition (March 7, 2011)
- Publication date : March 7, 2011
- Language : English
- File size : 505 KB
- Simultaneous device usage : Unlimited
- Text-to-Speech : Enabled
- Screen Reader : Supported
- Enhanced typesetting : Enabled
- X-Ray : Not Enabled
- Word Wise : Enabled
- Print length : 147 pages
- Best Sellers Rank: #3,322,923 in Kindle Store (See Top 100 in Kindle Store)
- #3,031 in Children's Health (Kindle Store)
- #10,890 in Children's Health (Books)
- Customer Reviews:
About the author

Peter Palmieri was born in the United States but spent most of his childhood in Italy. He grew up in the hauntingly beautiful city of Trieste—a city that has been called home by many great writers, including James Joyce, Jan Morris, and Italo Svevo. He returned to the United States at the age of fourteen and pursued a career in medicine, earning a BA in Psychology and Animal Physiology from the University of California San Diego, his medical degree from Loyola University Stritch School of Medicine in Chicago, and a Healthcare MBA from The George Washington University. For over twenty years, Peter provided pediatric care to some of the country’s most vulnerable communities on the South Side of Chicago, on the Texas-Mexico border, and in a clinic for international refugees in Houston. Having retired from medicine, Peter now spends most of his time crafting delicious artisanal gelato, reading, and writing. He lives in the Texas Hill Country with his wife of thirty years and some very demanding pets.
Contact Peter at peterpalmieriauthor@gmail.com
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- Reviewed in the United States on July 19, 2013Suffer the Children is a well done, insightful book look at the practice of pediatrics from the inside out. As a practicing pediatrician, I have seen many patients who have been run through the ringer of false pediatric ideas from other practitioners. I am fortunate enough to work with a group of doctors who are thoughtful and are always looking out for the best interests of our patients.
Just this weekend I saw patients who were given amoxicillin for their swimmer's ear and another baby who had been on 6 different formulas for their happy spitter trying to stop spit up.
As Palmieri describes, many of these simple mistakes and mismanagement are committed by full-time pediatricians and I fear that as we migrate towards a more urgent care/retail model of ill visits we will only see these problems progressively worsen.
During residency, I observed how primary pediatricians had had an erosion of skill in treating even common illnesses. Patients were sent to the ER with a promise of "quick admission for their (insert serious problem)" only to be seen by the triage nurse and placed at the bottom of the list. I currently practice in a smaller town in west Texas and take care of my own nursery, NICU and pediatric inpatients but I will be moving to a clinic in Dr Palmieri's backyard in Lewisville, TX. My prayer is that I don't become "that doctor" and maintain the level of intellectual integrity that his book calls for.
Well done Dr Palmieri! Thanks for the honesty and transparency!
- Reviewed in the United States on July 2, 2011Dr. Palmieri is correct, but what he describes equally applies to all medical professions. Giving in to patients and prescribing unnecessary antibiotics, failing to recognize simple problems, over ordering unneeded tests, immediate referral to specialists for things they should be able to diagnose and treat, etc. ER docs and many others (especially those that own their own machines) order unneeded CT scans despite the risk of radiation.
As a professor of Pediatrics for 13 years, now retired, I have seen it all, from all.
Excellent book. My advice to patients:
1. fully and clearly state why you have an appointment
2. do not lie
3. be honest about your lifestyle
4. know what medications you are taking, or bring all of them with you. That includes prescriptions, over the counter, and herbals
5. if you are a new patient, obtain and bring past medical records
6. comply with the treatment plan, and don't tell me you did when you didn't.
Never expect and doc to do their best with wrong, minimal information. Your best health depends on my knowing the truth.
Paul Prescott, MD, FAAP
- Reviewed in the United States on March 11, 2011As a practicing pediatrician (hopefully one of the better ones) I can attest to the validity of Dr. Palmieri's observations about the dismal state of American pediatric practice. Parents would do well to read this excellent and eloquently written book before they next take their child to the pediatrician, as the chances for misdiagnosis and mistreatment are high. The author bases his conclusions on both his personal experience, well illustrated with personal vignettes, and well documented medical studies and research, which he lists in an extensive reference for those who want hard proof.
- Reviewed in the United States on March 28, 2012As an ER nurse, I was thrilled to read this book. It is a must-read for all nurses, physicians, parents, and caregivers. Dr Palmieri explains how medicine should be practiced. Healthcare providers would do well to heed his advice. I'd also like to see parents & caregivers reading this book; parents need to stop demanding tests & medications & start appreciating providers who give appropriate care like that of Dr Palmieri. I applaud Dr Palmieri for his courage to do the right thing despite pressure to do otherwise!
- Reviewed in the United States on March 15, 2011this is an important book- i hope that this starts a reorganization of parental thinking when coming in to see the pediatrician- good medical care, good doctoring is not about fancy tests or expensive treatments- Dr.Palmieri's book highlights what I think is the healthiest perspective to go see a doctor with- but is all too infrequent in this day of "aren't you going to do anything?"
DO NOT HESITATE- buy this book, read it, reread it and then share it with your friends!
- Reviewed in the United States on May 2, 2011Dr. Palmieri's book should be read by all medical students, residents and practitioners, regardless of their specialty. In today's age of evidence-based medicine (or better yet, science-based medicine), we cannot afford to constantly rely on folklore, logical fallacies and doctors who ignore science.
I am a pediatrician and I highly recommend this book.
- Reviewed in the United States on April 24, 2011This book was uncomfortable to read, but I'm glad I did. I now feel a lot more prepared to deal with everything from normal childhood illnesses to serious disease.