Like the title says, the low-rating critics of this book are either ideological fanatics, medical investors, money-driven apologists, or haughty medical professionals in denial.

To begin with, Maggie Mahar has earned impeccable crudentials. She's been a financial journalist, who's written for Bloomberg, Barron's, New York Times, Money magazine, etc. - just to name a few. Her last book before this one, "BULL! A HISTORY OF BOOM AND BUST," was acclaimed by Paul Krugman and none other than Warren Buffet, who recommended it to his investors.

Money-Driven Medicine is written in common English, yet intelligent and comprehensive. Everyone can benefit from the wealth of valuable information she provides in this book.

It should be the bible for anyone interested in the current debate on health care reform, as well as standard reading for college ethics courses, nursing programs and medical students, medical ethics courses, etc.

This book's value to serious medical professionals cannot be overstated. It is also a must read for anyone with medical problems or those caring for someone with chronic health problems requiring professional care. Professionals involved in all aspects of medicine can benefit immensely from this book.

People who earn their living in pharmacy, insurance, medical practice, medical devices, hospital administration, etc. etc. all have something to learn from this book, as does the average intellectually curious individual. For many people it could literally be a life-saver, in this jungle of drugs and procedures, to see behind the scenes, what the criteria drives the current treatment offered.

Mahar's volumes of research is apparent from her many interviews, references, and statisical dredging, on which she bases her profound revelations.

A large book, 9.5" x 6.25" hardcover (text fills the page) of 450 pages with 83 pages of fine print footnotes (The type is large in the text) and a 20 page index, this book is obviously one of the best bargains in the bookstore. It is listed as a textbook, and as such one of the best bargains for the classroom as well.

Mahar gives a "just the facts, Ma'am" dissertation - devoid of any liberal or conservative leaning, however, dispelling the myths and false claims on either side of the political spectrum.

As a person with severe [multiple] chemical sensitivity, I found the ink and paper non-toxic, and I read it without problems. My only complaint as a reader is that, with the copy I had, some pages had weaker shade of black print ink than I thought it should have had.

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Wendell Murray

Another outstanding book on healthcare in the USA

Reviewed in the United States on April 21, 2008

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I recently (April 2008) saw a reference to this book in the Wall Street Journal's HealthBlog, so decided to read it based on the reviews here. I add my own praise for the book. The blurb on the author, Maggie Mahar, states that she was once a professor of literature at Yale University. Her prose is excellent, so I find that little fact interesting and relevant. The prose of many otherwise excellent books is not always up to that standard.

What is particularly noteworthy of this book is the depth and accuracy of its research - something fairly rare among books by journalists. Journalists' role in disseminating information is by and large not scholarly, but rather popularizing of scholarly work. In this case the book comes closer to scholarly work than most even though it is based almost entirely on secondary sources. However the sources Ms. Mahar uses are the best. She cites several times two of the seminal works on healthcare: the always-cited work in scholarly circles by the eminent Nobel-prize-winning Kenneth Arrow and the comprehensive social history of American medicine by Paul Starr, itself a masterful, easily-readable book. She also cites another excellent compendium by health economists that looks at different aspects of the issues raised in Professor Arrow's article.

The book's focus ultimately addresses in detail the reasons what the American healthcare system is so inflated in terms of cost and so dysfunctional at the same time. In essence this is due to the many participants in healthcare who are profit-motivated. In the case of healthcare services profit-motivation does more harm than good as a rule. The participant groups reviewed cover all suppliers, ranging from physicians groups to hospital chains to nursing homes to pharmaceutical manufacturers/distributors to device manufacturers, in sum most of the suppliers into the system.

I highly recommend this book, along with several others that I have reviewed. Each is outstanding in its way and written by individuals with different experiences and perspectives, but all highly accurate in their analysis and assessments.

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G. Eyre

a great primer for better understanding the issues

Reviewed in the United States on January 29, 2010

Verified Purchase

edited by author's son and it shows. but it is chock full of data, insights and anecdotes that i think help frame some of the issues we are facing as a nation. it does not offer solutions, just some background for more intelligent questions. i would highly recommend as a primer.

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Al

Best book on why medical costs are so high

Reviewed in the United States on March 2, 2024

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This book takes the first principles approach and shows form the history how the whole medical system was set up and why the costs of in the system are so high and a must read for any one interested in the healthcare and medicine.

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