Surviving Your Doctors, with its in-depth explanations, guidance, and direction will be the basic training manual patients need to work their way through the health care maze. It serves as a map of the medical minefield, told from the perspective of a doctor yet designed to reveal the faults in the system and the things that can and do go wrong during the course of both routine and special procedures and office visits. Filled with real stories of medical mishaps, anecdotes, and checklists, this book will walk readers through major areas of the medical world - from the doctor's office to the pharmacy, from the laboratory to the ER - giving them a clearer picture of how things really work, what health care workers really think, and how to take back control of their health and the care they receive.

Richard S. Klein, M.D., is a practicing physician specializing in internal medicine and infectious diseases. An associate professor of medicine, Dr. Klein also teaches at New York Medical College. He is the author of From Anecdote to Antidote.

Introduction

Part I: Everday Medical and Health ConcernsChapter 1. Taking Control of Your Healthcare: Or, the Wisdom of Second and Third OpinionsChapter 2. Insurance Companies: Organized Crime or Just Bad Policies?Chapter 3. An Apple A Day: And Other Things to Protect Your Health When Visiting the Doctor's OfficeChapter 4. Does Your Kid Really Need That Shot?: Protecting Your Children in the SystemChapter 5. The Pharmacy and Prescription Drugs: Or Beware, the Spoonful of Sugar That Helps the 'Bad Medicine' Go DownChapter 6. Visiting the ER without Feeling Like a Bit Player on a TV Drama

Part II: Major Diseases and Long-Term IssuesChapter 7. A Real Heart-to-Heart about Cardiac CareChapter 8. How to Handle the Big C from A to ZChapter 9. Baby Boom or Bust: How to Stroll through Maternity, Neonatal, and Fertiltiy IssuesChapter 10. You Give Me Fever: Infection and Communicable DiseasesChapter 11. How to Maintain Some Sanity in the Mental Health System

Part III: The Hospital and Major ProceduresChapter 12. Hospital Out-Patient Visits and How to Make Sure that You Actually Get OutChapter 13. Hosptial Stays: As Dangerous as a War Zone?Chapter 14. Medical Test and How to Avodi Becomding a Lab RatChapter 15. Major Surgeries: Or, How to Make Sure You Still Have a Leg to Stand on Afterward

Part IV: The Future of MedicineChapter 16. A Cure for the Medical System