Death by Medicine

1: Introduction......Page 7
Is American Medicine Working?......Page 22
Health Insurance......Page 24
Underreporting of Iatrogenic Events......Page 26
The First Study of Iatrogenesis......Page 27
Only a Fraction of Medical Errors Are Reported......Page 29
No Improvement in Error Reporting......Page 30
Public Suggestions on Iatrogenesis......Page 31
3: Problems with Drugs......Page 33
Medication Errors......Page 34
Adverse Drug Reactions......Page 35
Underreporting of Side Effects......Page 36
Medicating Our Feelings......Page 37
Television Diagnosis......Page 38
How Do We Know Drugs Are Safe?......Page 39
Drug Companies Fined......Page 40
Antibiotics......Page 42
NSAIDS......Page 45
Cancer Chemotherapy......Page 46
Unnecessary Surgical Procedures......Page 51
High Mortality Rates......Page 53
Few Medical Procedures Subject to Clinical Trial......Page 59
Surgical Errors Cost $9 Billion......Page 60
Unnecessary X-rays......Page 61
Unnecessary Hospitalization......Page 63
Outpatient Iatrogenesis......Page 64
Hysteria......Page 66
Hysterectomy......Page 67
Cesarean Section......Page 68
Malnutrition in Nursing Homes......Page 69
Warehousing Our Elders......Page 70
Overmedicating Seniors......Page 72
8: Medical Ethics and Conflicts of Interest in Scientific Medicine......Page 75
”More Studies!”......Page 77
What Remains to Be Uncovered......Page 78
Summary......Page 81
References......Page 85
Index......Page 103