National Healthcare Reform? Now that's a complex subject. But here's an idea: Why don't we just start by weeding out the lunatics? The Florida doctor who conspired with his brothers to chop off a finger with an axe, so they could collect a nifty insurance pay-off . . . The New York physician who accidently blew himself up, demolishing an entire building, to spite his divorcing wife . . . The Arizona MD who - while facing 67-counts of sexually abusing his patients - announced in court, "Okay. So I'm not exactly Dr. Marcus Welby." The East Coast doctor who stole a cadaver's hand in order to impress a topless dancer . . . Oh, we're just getting started. There are 100,000 more you might want to keep an eye on. ________________________________ "Author McDonald breaks ranks and names names. I sincerely wish I could report that these are merely a few far-out nutcases. I honestly cannot say that. And this fact alone makes his work, regrettably, important." J. William Hollingsworth, MD (Retired) Former Chief of Medicine, San Diego VA Medical Center "Disturbing, provocative and uncomfortably funny." Lesley Miller, MD, (former "surgeon to the stars") USC Medical Center, L.A. __________________________________ Patrick McDonald is a graduate of UCSD School of Medicine, La Jolla, original EMS program. He was appointed the first EMS supervisor for the city of San Diego under Mayor (and then governor) Pete Wilson's administration; was a coauthor of the National Waterpark Lifeguard Training Manual; a set medic on such movies as Planet of the Apes; has provided medical services for entertainers such as Engelbert Humperdinck and the Commodores. For three decades this author and guest speaker has collected thousands of outlandish physician stories. He writes, "I waited 25 years for someone else to do this. The fact is, no profession in America spawns more outright lunacy. And we thought you might like to know a little more about it." _________________________________ For more on the fascinating subject of doctor shenanigans, come visit our website, where you will learn all about your own "Dumb Doctor" story, money-making opportunities. We are gathering nutty cases for the next book, due out in the Spring, 2010. Why not join the fun? www.medicalmaniacs.com

"America's Top Doctors" is the national guide that identifies more than 5,000 top doctors throughout the U.S. in more than 60 medical specialties and sub-specialties for the care and treatment of more than 1,700 diseases and medical conditions. These outstanding doctors represent the top 1% in the nation. The guide also contains detailed information about some of the nation's most outstanding major medical centers and specialty hospitals. The physician profiles are arranged by specialty or sub-specialty and are organized geographically within each specialty/sub-specialty. Search by disease, condition, procedure or technique by using the Special Interest Index or by name in the Alphabetical Listing of Doctors. "America's Top Doctors" is informative and easy to use.

An obsessive true crime investigation of a bizarre and unlikely perpetrator, who’s serving the opioid epidemic’s longest term for illegal prescriptions — four life sentences Written in the tradition of I'll Be Gone in the Dark and True Crime Addict, combining Dopesick's heart rending portrayal of the epidemic's victims with Empire of Pain's examination of its perpetrators This haunting and propulsive debut follows a journalist’s years-long investigation into his father's old classmate: former high school valedictorian Paul Volkman, who once seemed destined for greatness after earning his MD and his PhD from the prestigious University of Chicago, but is now serving four consecutive life sentences at a federal prison in Arizona. Volkman was the central figure in a massive “pill mill” scheme in southern Ohio. His pain clinics accepted only cash, employed armed guards, and dispensed a torrent of opioid painkillers and other controlled substances. For nearly three years, Volkman remained in business despite raids by law enforcement and complaints from patients’ family members. Prosecutors would ultimately link him to the overdose deaths of 13 patients, though investigators explored his ties to at least 20 other deaths. This groundbreaking book is based on 12 years of correspondence and interviews with Volkman. Eil also traveled to 19 states, interviewed more than 150 people, and filed a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit against the Drug Enforcement Administration that led to the release of nearly 20,000 pages of trial evidence. The American opioid epidemic is, like this book, a true crime story. Through this one doctor’s story, an era of unfathomable tragedy is brought down to a tangible, and devastating, human scale.

Traditional Chinese medicine developed over thousands of years, but changes introduced from 1835-1935 by American missionary doctors initiated a landslide of cultural revolution in the city of Canton and medical modernization throughout China. Focusing on medical missionaries’ ideas and approaches in a principal city of the period, Canton, Guangqiu Xu, a native of Canton, describes the long-term impact of American models of medical work, which are still in place in China today. Despite stiff resistance to change and Chinese suspicion of foreign ideas, the impact of American medical missionaries was profound. They opened medical schools, trained modern doctors, and promoted public health education. These transformations in turn led to major social movements in the modernization of Canton, such as the women’s rights movement, modern charity and welfare systems, and modern hygiene campaigns. This book focuses on the changes American doctors brought to Canton, their implementation, what remains of their influence today, and how some of these transformations have spread across China. It shows that the Chinese have themselves become more responsive to cultural relations with the US as part of the acceptance of these changes, and demonstrates how the unique blend of modern Western and traditional Chinese medicines has helped modernize China and make Canton the cradle of modern reform and revolution in China.

Tracking the evolution of medical care from an individualized small cottage profession to a giant impersonal corporate industry costing Americans over $3 trillion each year. Over the past three decades, the once-efficient American health care system has evolved into a complex maze of monopolies and a racket of bureaucratic checks, approvals, denials, roadblocks, and detours. This shift has created a massive and at times redundant workforce that frustrates patients, as well as physicians, nurses, and administrative staff. Health care costs the United States over $3 trillion each year and consumes over 18% of the country's gross domestic product. That's more than $11,000 for each person in the country each year—more than double what it costs in most Western European countries to deliver equal or even better care. In Corporatizing American Health Care, Robert W. Derlet, MD, traces the progression of health care policy in the United States. How, he asks, has US health care transformed from bedside medicine—a model of small practices and patient-focused care—into corporate medicine, which prioritizes profit and deals with both patient care and outcomes as billing codes? Arguing that the US Congress is the root of the problem, he describes how Congress has failed to enact legislation to prevent corporate monopolies in the health care industry. Instead, corrupted by large campaign donations and corporate lobbyists, Congress has crafted loopholes benefiting corporations and harming people. Drawing on his decades as a practicing physician caring for thousands of patients, as well as his university and medical school teaching experience, Derlet follows changes to both policy and practice across many sectors of health care. Scrutinizing how hospitals work, he also takes a hard look at high prescription drug prices, unresponsive insurance companies, problems with the Affordable Care Act, the growing medical implant device industry, and even nursing homes. Finally, he explains why the dominance of corporations and their lobbyists over health policy means that we now pay more for our care and our medications but have less choice both in what doctors we see and in what drugs we take. Breaking down the complex ABCs of health care to reveal the unscrupulous practices of the health care industry, Corporatizing American Health Care is perfect for both students and general readers who want to understand the changes in our system from the perspective of an actual doctor.