Reviews for Chiropractic; The Victim's Perspective

The average rating for Chiropractic; The Victim's Perspective based on 2 reviews is 4 stars.

Review # 1 was written on 2012-08-28 00:00:00 Ed Minjares Mostly an explanation about why our healthcare is so expensive. Basically boils down to a system that is completely broken: - American system is "disease management", not health care - insurance companies set reimbursement policies. Have a bias towards fancy high-tech procedures (regardless of how effective they are), and drugs - doctors attempt to order as many procedures as possible, to basically get whatever they can from the insurance company - focus on high-tech procedures creates large compensation gap between specialists and general practitioners. In some cases this is a 10x difference ($1.3M for radiologists and anesthesiologists vs $130K for GP). This creates a large glut of specialists, and a dearth of general practitioners - focus on profits has driven doctors towards minimal patient times. Makes it impossible to understand each patient as an individual, and what underlying causes of health problems might be - most doctors dissatisfied with profession, and if given the choice would not have become doctors. Overloaded with administrative work (dealing with insurance companies) - industry is biased towards cure-all drugs and procedures. Specialists are just that; hammer effect (every problem looks like a nail). Often the prescribed procedures lack a general understanding of the root causes, and just treat the symptoms, since specialists are not broad-knowledged enough to grok greater picture. - Drug trials are aimed at single set of circumstances, with a yes/no effect, rather than considering the effect in a broader situation. Doctors hence do not understand how to integrate drugs into a larger plan of attack, and no one is studying this either. Drug companies do the vast majority of studies on effects, and it's not in their interest to do comparative studies. FDA/CDC should do comparative studies, but are often stymied by lobbyists. - pharma companies strategy is to market the hell out of drugs to get people to believe they need them. Argument that advertising is needed to make up for research costs is total bullshit; marketing expenses are often 2-5x what research costs were - way to reduce costs is to focus on preventative medicine. Need more GPs, and doctors must get to know their patients. Need integrated approach of lifestyle change, with drugs and operations used in emergency situations and as a backup. Most health problems are quite simple to solve, but Americans have become lazy and often just want a simple fix.

Review # 2 was written on 2013-07-02 00:00:00 Jeanmarc Buffa (4 1/2) I was half-expecting a new age, feel-good apologist manifesto for Obamacare, but that is not at all what this is. Dr. Weil does a decent and logical job explaining what he finds to be the problems with our healthcare system today and doesn't bastardize us as a country, comparing us to the "superior" healthcare systems of other countries. However, neither does he repeatedly toot our own horns about our technological advances in medicine. He explains how other countries' systems will collapse, too, and for the same reasons. He's realistic; he's practical; he cares; he makes sense. He says exactly what I've thought the problem was but adds another factor (and rightly so!) to the equation. Insurance companies are killing us with their profit-driven structures. Prices were never so high before insurance came along. (BTW, this is the Libertarian Party's platform, too). Dr. Weil then heavily and mercilessly criticizes Big Pharma and reveals some of the most startling statistics I've read about where they spend their money. Hint: It's not R&D. I'll admit that reading about the cold and inhumane way they operate, without regard to human life, made me tear up. Insurance companies (Aetna, I hate you) + Big Pharma = people who struggle their entire lives to keep up with unnecessary medical bills. This is just senseless. He calls for practical solutions to healthcare, all involving some form of "Integrated Medicine." I love this. It appeals to the individual in me, forcing people to take some sort of responsibility for their own health. It appeals to the collective in me, knowing that no one will have to take control of one's health alone; one receives guidance, help, and support. I like the idea of Integrated Medicine a lot - stress management, healthy eating, and physical activity should always, always, always be a part of health. We should never rely on a pill to swallow and be done with it. His ideas would save our citizens money and most importantly shift the focus from "Disease Management" (and let's face it, that's what healthcare is right now) to "Disease Prevention and Health Promotion." This book will leave you optimistic about taking care of yourself and with a bigger picture of how healthcare should ideally work. Four and a half stars.