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Secrets from the House of Medicine
Simon & Schuster
September 2008
On Sale: September 1, 2008
256 pages
ISBN: 1416551530
EAN: 9781416551539
Hardcover
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Non-Fiction
Everyone knows of the Hippocratic Oath, the famous
invocation sworn by all neophyte physicians. But most don't
realize that the father of modern medicine was an avid
listener and a constant bedside presence. Hippocrates
believed in the doctor-patient connection and gained
worldwide renown for championing science over mysticism
while respecting and advocating the potency of human
healing. Today, argues Dr. David H. Newman, medicine focuses
narrowly on the rewards of technology and science,
exaggerating their benefits and ignoring or minimizing their
perils. Dr. Newman sees a disconnect between doctor and
patient, a disregard for the healing power of the bond, and,
ultimately, a disconnect between doctors and their Oath. The root of this divergence, writes Dr. Newman, lies in the
patterns of secrecy and habit that characterize the "House
of Medicine," modern medicine's entrenched and carefully
protected subculture. In reflexive, often unconscious
defense of this subculture, doctors and patients guard
medical authority, cling to tradition, and yield to demands
that they do something or prescribe something. The result is
a biomedical culture that routinely engages in unnecessary
and inefficient practices, and leaves both patient and
doctor dissatisfied. While demonstrating an abiding respect
for, and a deep understanding of, the import of modern
science, Dr. Newman reviews research that refutes common and
accepted medical wisdom. He cites studies that show how
mammograms may cause more harm than good; why antibiotics
for sore throats are virtually always unnecessary and
therefore dangerous; how cough syrup is rarely more
effective than a sugar pill; the power and paradox of the
placebo effect; how statistics and studies themselves are
frequently deceptive; and why CPR is violent, invasive --
and almost always futile. Through an engaging, deeply researched, and eloquent
narrative laced with rich and riveting case studies, Newman
cuts to the heart of what really works -- and doesn't -- in
medicine and rebuilds the bridge between physicians and
their patients.
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