Critical Condition - by Donald L Barlett & James B Steele (Paperback)

About the Book

Now in paperback--an acclaimed expos by award-winning investigative journalists that reveals the horror of what health care in America has become, profiling patients and doctors trapped by the system and offering startling personal stories that illuminate what's gone wrong.

Book Synopsis

Award-winning journalists expose the horrific practices within America's health care system, profiling patients and doctors and offering startling personal stories to illuminate what's gone wrong.

"Every American ought to read this book."--The Plain Dealer

Tens of millions of people with inadequate or no medical coverage . . . dirty examination and operating rooms in doctors' offices and hospitals . . . more people killed by mistakes than by many diseases. This may sound like the predicament of a failed state, but this is America's health care reality today.

The United States spends more per capita on health care than any other nation, yet benefits are shrinking and life expectancy here is shorter than in countries that spend significantly less. Meanwhile, HMOs, pharmaceutical companies, and hospital chains reap tremendous profits, as our elected politicians, beholden to these same companies, enact piecemeal measures that lead to needless deaths, refusing to come to grips with a system on the verge of collapse.

A superb investigative work that is enormously compelling and addresses the concerns of every American, Critical Condition offers an insightful prescription for getting the system back on the right track.

Review Quotes

Praise for Donald L. Barlett and James B. Steele

"They are almost certainly the best team in the history of investigative reporting."--Washington Journalism Review

"Instead of just reporting still unproven accusations and focusing on individual corruption, [they reveal] with expert analysis and thorough documentation what has systematically gone wrong with the powerful, complex institutions that affect so much of life today."--Leonard Downie, Jr., author of The New Muckrakers: An Inside Look at America's Investigative Reporters

Praise for America: What Went Wrong?

"Once or twice in a generation, the American people are jolted by a book that helps bring about major change. America: What Went Wrong. . . is a monumental achievement."--Chicago Sun-Times

"Barlett and Steele have incisively and vividly defined the problem facing the nation."--The New York Times

"America: What Went Wrong? probably is the most complete and revealing piece of reporting since turn-of-the-century muckrakers shocked the nation with descriptions of inhuman working conditions and big city political machines."--Maine Sunday Telegram

"It is easy to see why America: What Went Wrong? is quite simply some of the best American news reporting in years. . . The authors have done a great service to the public by accumulating all this vital information in such a clear and simple manner."--Boston Phoenix

About the Author

Donald L. Barlett and James B. Steele are America's most widely acclaimed investigative journalism team. They have worked together for three decades, first at the Philadelphia Inquirer, and, since 1997, as editors at large for Time. They are the only journalists in history to have won two Pulitzer Prizes and two National Magazine Awards, as well as dozens of other national awards. They are the coauthors of six books, including America: What Went Wrong?, which spent eight months on the New York Times bestseller list.