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Praise
for The Life You Save |
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| Review
of The Life You Save by Rod Brouhard, About.com August 2, 2009 About.com Rating: 5 out of 5 The Bottom Line The Life You Save: Nine Steps to Finding the Best Medical Care - and Avoiding the Worst by Patrick Malone should be on the coffee table of every person with a chronic medical condition. More importantly, it should also be on the coffee table of every person yet to be diagnosed with any medical condition. This book looks at healthcare in the US and gives very good advice on how to navigate through the bureaucracy and paternalism of medicine to avoid human error and get the best care you can. Malone uses his experiences as an attorney in medical malpractice cases to identify pitfalls and help you avoid them.
Guide Review - The Life You Save I received a review copy of The Life You Save after speaking with the author, Patrick Malone. He thought my readers might be able to use some of the information in this book. After reading it, I not only think my readers could benefit from it, I found advice for myself in there as well. There aren't too many nonfiction books that I would consider poetic. While The Life You Save wasn't all flowery prose, the opening sentence was profound enough that I had to read it aloud to my wife. "The sound patients make when they fall off the earth is so quiet that hardly anyone can hear it," writes Malone on page one. This point of view is a recurring theme in the book as Malone shows how squeaky wheels do indeed get the grease and how the quiet among us are summarily forgotten. He spends the next 17 chapters teaching us when and how to be really squeaky. One of the things I liked best about The Life You Save is how Malone uses real patient experiences to illustrate his nine steps (which are really more like 13 steps). Most of these vignettes come from Malone's own clients and the doctors who wronged them, but some are patient advocates with their own stories to tell. Imagine my surprise to see About.com's own Guide to Patient Empowerment, Trisha Torrey, profiled as a success story of how to do it right. Malone doesn't have a lot of information in the book about protecting yourself in the case of an emergency. Indeed, he incorrectly chalks up ER care as just so much luck. I think he underestimates what a strong advocate can do for a patient in the emergency department. That being said, The Life You Save is a great book for anyone concerned about getting the best medical care possible, patients and not-quite-yet-patients alike. ©2009 About.com, Inc., a part of The New York Times Company. All rights reserved. |
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“Our healthcare system cures, but it also kills. This book thoughtfully chronicles the harm that can result from medical errors and poor quality care, and—most importantly—arms patients with information that will help them and their loved ones avoid becoming a victim. Read it, and stay safe.” —Robert M. Wachter, MD, Professor of Medicine, University of California, San Francisco, author of Internal Bleeding and Understanding Patient Safety
“Because medical care will always lag behind in the culture of safety, no one can take the risk of not being an active, vigilant patient. As a result of 10 years as a medical journalist and 20 years representing people who have been injured or killed because of negligence by doctors or drug companies, Malone has compiled a remarkably well-researched set of you-cannot-afford-not-to steps to take, aided by a series of life-saving check lists of questions patients need to ask, that can make the difference between getting excellent medical care or becoming a victim of impaired health, or even death, from much worse care. “The important book is illustrated by real patients. The ones who survived employed some of the nine steps discussed in the book, the less fortunate ones should have. “Doctors and other health professionals make mistakes too often to justify a false sense of security. This important book teaches patients and their families how to catch them before they cause injury or death.” Sidney Wolfe M.D.
"As a broadcast journalist I know the vital importance of checking facts. As Patrick Malone teaches us in his great new book, nothing can be more important than checking the facts about your own health. It's a matter of life and death." —Chris Matthews, host of MSNBC's "Hardball with Chris Matthews"
—Joan Claybrook, former president of Public Citizen
“Patrick Malone has written a book that really could save a life. With his moving real life stories and his brilliant advice this book is a must-read for anyone who cares about their health and wellbeing.” —Sorrel King, The Josie King Foundation
“Patrick Malone has what Pete Conrad would call ‘The Right Stuff.’ We owe him a debt of gratitude for focusing a beam of light on saving lives." —Nancy Conrad, Founder and Chairman of the Conrad Foundation |
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