Internal Bleeding: The Truth Behind America's Terrifying Epidemic of Medical Mistakes

As with so many before them, Wachter and Shojania, practising doctors in the United States, start their book with a prologue outlining their own involvement in patient safety issues. It seems that everyone must undergo a public catharsis before they are able to talk about safety and harm. It was thus, with this formulaic confession, that I was immediately put off this book, assuming that it would not add much to the safety literature. However, as soon as I realised that this book was not for people like me—safety junkies—or even directed at clinicians without a special interest in the field, but for patients, my interest was rekindled.

Rugged Land, $24.95/$C36.95, pp 320 ISBN 1 59071 016 9 http://www.ruggedland.com/

Rating:

How would the authors explain this complex field to patients? Rather well in my opinion. Overall they capture the difficult issues involved, including …