The Empowered Patient: How to Get the Right Diagnosis, Buy the Cheapest Drugs, Beat Your Insurance Company, and Get the Best Medical Care Every Time

Every year in America nearly 200,000 people die due to preventable mistakes or infections acquired in hospitals. CNN senior medical correspondent Cohen uses these sobering stats and a horror story of her own (her sick newborn received unnecessary spinal taps) to launch this tract on patient empowerment. Cohen counters numerous examples of medical errors, rude and rushed doctors, and hostile insurance companies with practical tips to guarantee quality medical care. Potential patients learn ways of finding the right physician, tips for courageously disagreeing with or even firing the "wrong doctor," strategies for maximizing doctor appointment time, and more. Misdiagnoses occur often, the author notes, citing examples of "diagnostic heroes" like the teenage girl, mysteriously ill for eight years, who diagnosed her own disease in a high school science class. Cohen offers practical advice for avoiding such problems, surviving hospitalization (more difficult than you might think), and coping with insurance companies. An appendix of medical websites, sample interactions with medical professionals, and guidelines for climbing out of medical debt completes this valuable book. (Aug.)