Malpractice

A Neurosurgeon Reveals How Our Health-Care System Puts Patients at Risk

Lawrence Schlachter, John Bechtel

• Publisher: Skyhorse
• Year: 2017
• Print ISBN:
  9781510712591
• eBook ISBN:
  9781510712607
• Topic: Medicine
• Subtopic: Ethics in Medicine

In 1991, the Institute of Medicine released a landmark report, which revealed that as many as 98, 000 patients were dying every year owing to avoidable medical error. More recent research indicates that estimate was, if anything, a drastic understatement of the patient-safety epidemic in the US health care system.In Malpractice, neurosurgeon and attorney Dr. Larry Schlachter makes a case that most patients enter the system without any idea of the risks they face, due to a medical culture that denies there is a patient safety problem. He argues that medical culture actively avoids transparency, perpetuates an atmosphere of blind deference to doctors, and protects dangerous doctors from any accountability.Drawing on 23 years of experience, Dr. Schlachter provides unbelievable stories that illustrate the host of risks patients face whenever they seek diagnostic evaluation or go under the knife. This book provides an all-access pass to the inner sanctums of the health care citadel, exposing the cultural flaws that fuel doctor's egos and outlining the steps every patent should take to protect himself or herself.

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title Page
• Copyright
• Dedication
• Contents
• Preface
• 1. The Reality of Patient Harm
• 2. Records Patients Aren’t Allowed to See
• 3. How I Became a Doctor
• 4. How Doctors Cope with Trauma
• 5. The Art of Medicine
• 6. The Medical Conveyor Belt
• 7. The Time Crunch and Other Risks We Face
• 8. The Mask of Infallibility
• 9. Cover-Ups and Semantic Games
• 10. The Elusive Standard of Care
• 11. How Good is “Good Enough”?
• 12. Why Dr. Codman Got Fired
• 13. The Remarkable Case of Dr. Christopher Duntsch
• 14. Baseball Changes My Life—Again
• 15. Propaganda War and the Myths of Malpractice
• 16. In the Courtroom
• 17. Every Doctor for Himself
• 18. Rational Responses to Malpractice
• 19. In Praise of the Responsible Patient
• Endnotes
• Acknowledgments