My life has been saved by doctors and hospitals on at least three occasions: first, before I was born, when my mother went into labor two months early; second, in my teens, when I nearly stopped breathing as a result of a massive allergic reaction; and third, in my thirties, when I needed brain surgery.
I have a profound appreciation for the intelligence, training, experience, and dedication of everyone who contributes to terrific outcomes in health care. The list includes doctors, nurses, pharmacists, hospital administrators, researchers who come up with the drugs and devices used to save lives, and millions of others without whom health care would simply grind to a halt.
The health care system does a wonderful job of describing its great successes. For example, billboards advertising miracles in treating heart attacks and cancer are common sights. The health care system doesn’t need any help promoting its benefits.
But that’s only half of the story. Killer Cure highlights the other half. Health care in the United States has massive shortcomings which can entirely cancel out the great benefits that it can deliver.
My intentions in writing Killer Cure are twofold. The first is to help you, the reader, recognize and understand the gaps that put you at risk when you deal with the health care system. It is only with this knowledge that you have a chance to reduce your risk.
The second intention is to offer you a new perspective that can enable you to think very differently about your health, about your health care, and about how you interact with the health care system. My goal is to improve the odds that health care will increase rather than decrease your ability to lead the life you want.
People who have heard me speak about this perspective have later told me that it has permanently changed how they think and act in the realm of health care. Many of them have said things like, “Everybody needs to hear this! When are you going to write a book?” I wrote Killer Cure in response.
A number of the stories in Killer Cure that describe gaps in care are drawn from my own experience. Many of them unfolded over many months. Because I kept detailed records of my care, it was possible to look back afterwards and identify what went wrong at various points along the way.