Natural Causes

The latest medical thriller by physician Palmer ( Extreme Measures ) is timely and diverting. Dr. Sarah Baldwin is a fast-track OB/GYN resident at the Medical Center of Boston (aka ``Crunchy Granola General''), a hospital which seems ideally suited to her holistic healing background. When one of her patients is stricken with sudden, almost unstoppable bleeding, Sarah saves her life with a combination of acupuncture and meditation techniques, briefly becoming a heroine. Then, it turns out that this patient and two others who died under similar circumstances were all taking a natural herbal vitamin supplement Sarah had prescribed. The young resident soon finds herself pitted against several powerful interests, including an HMO poised to take over the struggling hospital. With the help of an attractive if inexperienced lawyer, a dedicated investigator for the Centers for Disease Control and the head of MCB's department of internal medicine, Sarah tries to avert the threats to her career and, as later becomes clear, to her life. Natural Causes is a page-turner despite more villains than any plot requires, and a conclusion that, like the Energizer Bunny, keeps on going and going, this is an entertaining novel with some surprise moments. (Mar.)