Hippocrates' Shadow: Secrets from the House of Medicine

Emergency physician Newman exposes medicine's murkier aspects—truths universally observed if scarcely acknowledged: the scant time physicians spend observing their patients, the dubious benefits of certain surgeries, the imprecision of x-ray, EKG or symptom interpretation and how little physicians are trained—or inclined—to communicate honestly with patients. Despite its numerous criticisms, the book is devoid of righteous rage; instead, readers will find an author intent on chronicling his own missteps and a measured exploration of the systemic roots of the “cult-like” secrecy of doctors and how patients themselves contribute to shoddy—often dangerous—medical care. Laypeople will be flabbergasted to encounter Newman's compelling evidence of facts long known—if repressed—in the medical community: the uselessness of mammograms; that treating bronchitis, strep throat and ear infections with antibiotics does more harm than good; and that many medications for heart attacks, migraine and hypertension have little detectable benefit. Evidence is also overwhelming that ineffective treatments work when delivered by a compassionate physician. This essential book dethrones medicine as an infallible science and restores it to Hippocrates' original vision, as an “Art” and a “profoundly human, beautifully flawed, and occasionally triumphant endeavor.” (Sept.)