Reviews
The cardiologist who found blocked arteries in nearly every patient...the brilliant breast cancer cure that too often killed patients...Brownlee uses anecdotes of medical misdeeds, mistakes, and misunderstandings to illustrate a surprising truth at the heart of American healthcare: More isn't necessarily better. Shoring up her conclusions with groundbreaking findings from a group of researchers at Dartmouth, Brownlee also points the way to workable solutions., PRAISE FOROVERTREATED: "My choice for the economics book of the year...it's the best description I have yet read of a huge economic problem that we know how to solve--but so often misunderstood."—New York Timesarticle 'No. 1 Book, and It Offers Solutions' This book is written for a sophisticated general audience. I hope it is widely read, providing patients with the needed resolve to stop demanding that their physicians prescribe the latest procedure, poultice or potion that marketing and medical journalism foists on them….Brownlee's presentation is brilliant journalism."—Journal of the American Medical Association The cardiologist who found blocked arteries in nearly every patient…the brilliant breast cancer cure that too often killed patients…Brownlee uses anecdotes of medical misdeeds, mistakes, and misunderstandings to illustrate a surprising truth at the heart of American healthcare: More isn't necessarily better. Shoring up her conclusions with groundbreaking findings from a group of researchers at Dartmouth, Brownlee also points the way to workable solutions."—O Magazine "Excellent new book"—Slate.com A bombshell of a book: must reading for consumers, their political representatives and all those White House contenders."—Kirkus, Starred review [Brownlee] presents a stunning but reasoned picture of the out-of-control, inefficient and often tragically ineffective U.S. health care system…This rousing call for change, accessible for general readers, is recommended."— Library Journal Exhaustive takedown of the U.S. health-care system…Overtreated eclipses Michael Moore's reporting and eschews his polemics. By piling on facts, Brownlee shows why Americans spend so much on health care yet are in measurably poorer shape than the residents of just about every other developed nation."—Conde Nast Portfolio alarming and intriguing…Brownlee gives each of her theme-based chapters an emotional core by rolling out a story."—Bloomberg.com 'Overtreated' should be read by anyone interested in health care economics."—TylerCowen, Marginalrevolution.com "Overtreatedis a marvelous new book by Shannon Brownlee."—Thehealthcareblog.com Finally, someone willing to expose the dirty little secret of US health care. If you have insurance you will certainly get too much health care, and in this situation more is definitely not better. Shannon Brownlee's book,Overtreated, will open your eyes to the problems and point the way to the answers."—Susan Love, M.D., author ofDr. Susan Love's Breast Book, President and Medical Director, Dr. Susan Love Research Foundation In the blizzard of books on our healthcare system, Shannon Brownlee's is unique in its provocative argument that individuals and the nation suffer from misguided and costly treatments. Patients, physicians, and policy makers would do well to consider her evidence as an important prescription for reform."—Jerome Groopman, M.D., Harvard Medical School and author ofHow Doctors Think "This book could sav, Overtreated is a necessary, if bitter tonic. As the election season starts to take shape, we desperately need an unbiased examination of the mess we're in and some substantiative ideas for fixing it. Overtreated delivers on both counts...Brownlee uncovers some truly amazing facts...Brownlee has given us a thoughtful push in the right direction., Overtreated will scare you. And that's a good thing. In this vivid and arresting tour of medicine in America, Shannon Brownlee shows why the care that is supposed to make us healthier frequently makes us sicker instead. At a time when health care reform is atop the political agenda again, this book should be required reading -- not only for every lawmaker and medical professional, but for every voter and patient, too., PRAISE FOR "OVERTREATED" "A bombshell of a book: must reading for consumers, their political representatives and all those White House contenders."--"Kirkus", Starred review "[Brownlee] presents a stunning but reasoned picture of the out-of-control, inefficient and often tragically ineffective U.S. health care system...This rousing call for change, accessible for general readers, is recommended.""-- Library Journal" "Finally, someone willing to expose the dirty little secret of US health care. If you have insurance you will certainly get too much health care, and in this situation more is definitely not better. Shannon Brownlee's book, "Overtreated", will open your eyes to the problems and point the way to the answers."--Susan Love, M.D., author of "Dr. Susan Love's Breast Book", President and Medical Director, Dr. Susan Love Research Foundation "In the blizzard of books on our healthcare system, Shannon Brownlee's is unique in its provocative argument that individuals and the nation suffer from misguided and costly treatments. Patients, physicians, and policy makers would do well to consider her evidence as an important prescription forreform."--Jerome Groopman, M.D., Harvard Medical School and author of "How Doctors Think" " " "This book could save your life. In gripping detail, Shannon Brownlee explains how well-insured Americans get much more high-tech medical care -- CT scans, angiograms, and the like -- than they need, enriching the hospitals and doctors who provide it, but driving up the overall costs of health care and often endangering patients' lives. Brownlee clearly shows in this important book that overtreatment, like undertreatment, is very bad medicine."--Marcia Angell, senior lecturer in social medicine at Harvard Medical School and former editor-in-chief of the New England Journal of Medicine ""Overtreated" will scare you. And that's a good thing. In this vivid and arresting tour of medicine in America, Shannon Brownlee shows why the care that is supposed to make us healthier frequently makes us sicker instead. At a time when health care reform is atop the political agenda again, this book should be required reading -- not only for every lawmaker and medical professional, but for every voter and patient, too."--Jonathan Cohn, author of "Sick: The Untold Story of ""America""'s Health Care Crisis---andthe People Who Pay the Price" "With her razor-sharp analyses, Shannon Brownlee disentangles the messy paradoxes of today's health care mess and turns every assumption on its head. She will forever change the way you view health care while restoring your hope for its future. This book is an important read for anyone interested in health care reform, which, in this day and age of overtreatment, should be all of us."--Pauline Chen, author of "Final Exam: A Surgeon's Reflections on Mortality", Exhaustive takedown of the U.S. health-care system...Overtreated eclipses Michael Moore's reporting and eschews his polemics. By piling on facts, Brownlee shows why Americans spend so much on health care yet are in measurably poorer shape than the residents of just about every other developed nation., [Brownlee] presents a stunning but reasoned picture of the out-of-control, inefficient and often tragically ineffective U.S. health care system...This rousing call for change, accessible for general readers, is recommended., PRAISE FOR "OVERTREATED": "A bombshell of a book: must reading for consumers, their political representatives and all those White House contenders."--"Kirkus," Starred review "[Brownlee] presents a stunning but reasoned picture of the out-of-control, inefficient and often tragically ineffective U.S. health care system...This rousing call for change, accessible for general readers, is recommended.""-- Library Journal" "Finally, someone willing to expose the dirty little secret of US health care. If you have insurance you will certainly get too much health care, and in this situation more is definitely not better. Shannon Brownlee's book, "Overtreated," will open your eyes to the problems and point the way to the answers."--Susan Love, M.D., author of "Dr. Susan Love's Breast Book," President and Medical Director, Dr. Susan Love Research Foundation "In the blizzard of books on our healthcare system, Shannon Brownlee's is unique in its provocative argument that individuals and the nation suffer from misguided and costly treatments. Patients, physicians, and policy makers would do well to consider her evidence as an important prescription for reform."--Jerome Groopman, M.D., Harvard Medical School and author of "How Doctors Think" " " "This book could save your life. In gripping detail, Shannon Brownlee explains how well-insured Americans get much more high-tech medical care -- CT scans, angiograms, and the like -- than they need, enriching the hospitals and doctors who provide it, but driving up the overall costs of health care and often endangering patients' lives. Brownlee clearly shows in this important book that overtreatment, like undertreatment, is verybad medicine."--Marcia Angell, senior lecturer in social medicine at Harvard Medical School and former editor-in-chief of the New England Journal of Medicine ""Overtreated" will scare you. And that's a good thing. In this vivid and arresting tour of medicine in America, Shannon Brownlee shows why the care that is supposed to make us healthier frequently makes us sicker instead. At a time when health care reform is atop the political agenda again, this book should be required reading -- not only for every lawmaker and medical professional, but for every voter and patient, too."--Jonathan Cohn, author of "Sick: The Untold Story of ""America""'s Health Care Crisis---and the People Who Pay the Price" "With her razor-sharp analyses, Shannon Brownlee disentangles the messy paradoxes of today's health care mess and turns every assumption on its head. She will forever change the way you view health care while restoring your hope for its future. This book is an important read for anyone interested in health care reform, which, in this day and age of overtreatment, should be all of us."--Pauline Chen, author of "Final Exam: A Surgeon's Reflections on Mortality" ""Overtreated" is a necessary, if bitter tonic. As the election season starts to take shape, we desperately need an unbiased examination of the mess we're in and some substantiative ideas for fixing it. "Overtreated" delivers on both counts...Brownlee uncovers some truly amazing facts...Brownlee has given us a thoughtful push in the right direction."--"Cleveland Plain Dealer", With her razor-sharp analyses, Shannon Brownlee disentangles the messy paradoxes of today's health care mess and turns every assumption on its head. She will forever change the way you view health care while restoring your hope for its future. This book is an important read for anyone interested in health care reform, which, in this day and age of overtreatment, should be all of us., Finally, someone willing to expose the dirty little secret of US health care. If you have insurance you will certainly get too much health care, and in this situation more is definitely not better. Shannon Brownlee's book, Overtreated , will open your eyes to the problems and point the way to the answers., In the blizzard of books on our healthcare system, Shannon Brownlee's is unique in its provocative argument that individuals and the nation suffer from misguided and costly treatments. Patients, physicians, and policy makers would do well to consider her evidence as an important prescription for reform., My choice for the economics book of the year...it's the best description I have yet read of a huge economic problem that we know how to solve--but so often misunderstood., This book is written for a sophisticated general audience. I hope it is widely read, providing patients with the needed resolve to stop demanding that their physicians prescribe the latest procedure, poultice or potion that marketing and medical journalism foists on them....Brownlee's presentation is brilliant journalism., PRAISE FOROVERTREATED: "A bombshell of a book: must reading for consumers, their political representatives and all those White House contenders."-Kirkus, Starred review "[Brownlee] presents a stunning but reasoned picture of the out-of-control, inefficient and often tragically ineffective U.S. health care system…This rousing call for change, accessible for general readers, is recommended."- Library Journal "Finally, someone willing to expose the dirty little secret of US health care. If you have insurance you will certainly get too much health care, and in this situation more is definitely not better. Shannon Brownlee's book,Overtreated, will open your eyes to the problems and point the way to the answers."-Susan Love, M.D., author ofDr. Susan Love's Breast Book, President and Medical Director, Dr. Susan Love Research Foundation "In the blizzard of books on our healthcare system, Shannon Brownlee's is unique in its provocative argument that individuals and the nation suffer from misguided and costly treatments. Patients, physicians, and policy makers would do well to consider her evidence as an important prescription for reform."-Jerome Groopman, M.D.,HarvardMedicalSchooland author ofHow Doctors Think "This book could save your life. In gripping detail, Shannon Brownlee explains how well-insured Americans get much more high-tech medical care -- CT scans, angiograms, and the like -- than they need, enriching the hospitals and doctors who provide it, but driving up the overall costs of health care and often endangering patients' lives. Brownlee clearly shows in this important book that overtreatment, like undertreatment, is very bad medicine."-Marcia Angell, senior lecturer in social medicine at Harvard Medical School and former editor-in-chief of theNew EnglandJournal of Medicine "Overtreatedwill scare you. And that's a good thing. In this vivid and arresting tour of medicine in America, Shannon Brownlee shows why the care that is supposed to make us healthier frequently makes us sicker instead. At a time when health care reform is atop the political agenda again, this book should be required reading -- not only for every lawmaker and medical professional, but for every voter and patient, too."-Jonathan Cohn, author ofSick: The Untold Story ofAmerica's Health Care Crisis---and the People Who Pay the Price "With her razor-sharp analyses, Shannon Brownlee disentangles the messy paradoxes of today's health care mess and turns every assumption on its head. She will forever change the way you view health care while restoring your hope for its future. This book is an important read for anyone interested in health care reform, which, in this day and age of overtreatment, should be all of us."-Pauline Chen, author ofFinal Exam: A Surgeon's Reflections on Mortality, " Finally, someone willing to expose the dirty little secret of US health care. If you have insurance you will certainly get too much health care, and in this situation more is definitely not better. Shannon Brownlee's book, "Overtreated," will open your eyes to the problems and point the way to the answers." -- Susan Love, M.D., author of "Dr. Susan Love's Breast Book," President and Medical Director, Dr. Susan Love Research Foundation " In the blizzard of books on our healthcare system, Shannon Brownlee' s is unique in its provocative argument that individuals and the nation suffer from misguided and costly treatments. Patients, physicians, and policy makers would do well to consider her evidence as an important prescription for reform." -- Jerome Groopman, M.D., Harvard Medical School and author of "How Doctors Think" " " " This book could save your life. In gripping detail, Shannon Brownlee explains how well-insured Americans get much more high-tech medical care -- CT scans, angiograms, and the like -- than they need, enriching the hospitals and doctors who provide it, but driving up the overall costs of health care and often endangering patients' lives. Brownlee clearly shows in this important book that overtreatment, like undertreatment, is very bad medicine." -- Marcia Angell, senior lecturer in social medicine at Harvard Medical School and former editor-in-chief of the New England Journal of Medicine " "Overtreated" will scare you. And that's a good thing. In this vivid and arresting tour of medicine in America, Shannon Brownlee shows why the care that issupposed to make us healthier frequently makes us sicker instead. At a time when health care reform is atop the political agenda again, this book should be required reading -- not only for every lawmaker and medical professional, but for every voter and patient, too." -- Jonathan Cohn, author of "Sick: The Untold Story of ""America""'s Health Care Crisis---and the People Who Pay the Price" " With her razor-sharp analyses, Shannon Brownlee disentangles the messy paradoxes of today's health care mess and turns every assumption on its head. She will forever change the way you view health care while restoring your hope for its future. This book is an important read for anyone interested in health care reform, which, in this day and age of overtreatment, should be all of us." -- Pauline Chen, author of "Final Exam: A Surgeon's Reflections on Mortality", A bombshell of a book: must reading for consumers, their political representatives and all those White House contenders., "Finally, someone willing to expose the dirty little secret of US health care. If you have insurance you will certainly get too much health care, and in this situation more is definitely not better. Shannon Brownlee's book,Overtreated, will open your eyes to the problems and point the way to the answers."-Susan Love, M.D., author ofDr. Susan Love's Breast Book, President and Medical Director, Dr. Susan Love Research Foundation "In the blizzard of books on our healthcare system, Shannon Brownlee's is unique in its provocative argument that individuals and the nation suffer from misguided and costly treatments. Patients, physicians, and policy makers would do well to consider her evidence as an important prescription for reform."-Jerome Groopman, M.D.,HarvardMedicalSchooland author ofHow Doctors Think "This book could save your life. In gripping detail, Shannon Brownlee explains how well-insured Americans get much more high-tech medical care -- CT scans, angiograms, and the like -- than they need, enriching the hospitals and doctors who provide it, but driving up the overall costs of health care and often endangering patients' lives. Brownlee clearly shows in this important book that overtreatment, like undertreatment, is very bad medicine."-Marcia Angell, senior lecturer in social medicine at Harvard Medical School and former editor-in-chief of theNew EnglandJournal of Medicine "Overtreatedwill scare you. And that's a good thing. In this vivid and arresting tour of medicine in America, Shannon Brownlee shows why the care that is supposed to make us healthier frequently makes us sicker instead. At a time when health care reform is atop the political agenda again, this book should be required reading -- not only for every lawmaker and medical professional, but for every voter and patient, too."-Jonathan Cohn, author ofSick: The Untold Story ofAmerica's Health Care Crisis---and the People Who Pay the Price "With her razor-sharp analyses, Shannon Brownlee disentangles the messy paradoxes of today's health care mess and turns every assumption on its head. She will forever change the way you view health care while restoring your hope for its future. This book is an important read for anyone interested in health care reform, which, in this day and age of overtreatment, should be all of us."-Pauline Chen, author ofFinal Exam: A Surgeon's Reflections on Mortality, alarming and intriguing...Brownlee gives each of her theme-based chapters an emotional core by rolling out a story., This book could save your life. In gripping detail, Shannon Brownlee explains how well-insured Americans get much more high-tech medical care -- CT scans, angiograms, and the like -- than they need, enriching the hospitals and doctors who provide it, but driving up the overall costs of health care and often endangering patients' lives. Brownlee clearly shows in this important book that overtreatment, like undertreatment, is very bad medicine., PRAISE FOR "OVERTREATED": " A bombshell of a book: must reading for consumers, their political representatives and all those White House contenders." -- "Kirkus," Starred review " [Brownlee] presents a stunning but reasoned picture of the out-of-control, inefficient and often tragically ineffective U.S. health care system... This rousing call for change, accessible for general readers, is recommended." "-- Library Journal" " Finally, someone willing to expose the dirty little secret of US health care. If you have insurance you will certainly get too much health care, and in this situation more is definitely not better. Shannon Brownlee's book, "Overtreated," will open your eyes to the problems and point the way to the answers." -- Susan Love, M.D., author of "Dr. Susan Love's Breast Book," President and Medical Director, Dr. Susan Love Research Foundation " In the blizzard of books on our healthcare system, Shannon Brownlee' s is unique in its provocative argument that individuals and the nation suffer from misguided and costly treatments. Patients, physicians, and policy makers would do well to consider her evidence as an important prescription for reform." -- Jerome Groopman, M.D., Harvard Medical School and author of "How Doctors Think" " " " This book could save your life. In gripping detail, Shannon Brownlee explains how well-insured Americans get much more high-tech medical care -- CT scans, angiograms, and the like -- than they need, enriching the hospitals and doctors who provide it, but driving up the overall costs of health careand often endangering patients' lives. Brownlee clearly shows in this important book that overtreatment, like undertreatment, is very bad medicine." -- Marcia Angell, senior lecturer in social medicine at Harvard Medical School and former editor-in-chief of the New England Journal of Medicine " "Overtreated" will scare you. And that's a good thing. In this vivid and arresting tour of medicine in America, Shannon Brownlee shows why the care that is supposed to make us healthier frequently makes us sicker instead. At a time when health care reform is atop the political agenda again, this book should be required reading -- not only for every lawmaker and medical professional, but for every voter and patient, too." -- Jonathan Cohn, author of "Sick: The Untold Story of ""America""'s Health Care Crisis---and the People Who Pay the Price" " With her razor-sharp analyses, Shannon Brownlee disentangles the messy paradoxes of today's health care mess and turns every assumption on its head. She will forever change the way you view health care while restoring your hope for its future. This book is an important read for anyone interested in health care reform, which, in this day and age of overtreatment, should be all of us." -- Pauline Chen, author of "Final Exam: A Surgeon's Reflections on Mortality"
