Risk and Healthcare: UNACCOUNTABLE, a new book by Marty Makary

Marty Makary is a physician and the author of a new book, "UNACCOUNTABLE: What Hospitals Won't Tell You and How Transparency Can Revolutionize Health Care." From what I gather, there is much we don't ever consider when we make decisions about medical care for ourselves or for our loved ones.  

The costs are great in terms of lives lost and money spent.

Marty's book apparently is causing a bit of a discussion, given the number of reader comments at the end of his recent essay in the WSJ (9/21/12), How to Stop Hospitals From Killing Us.


Here are a couple of quotes from the article:

"If you won't sit down for a meal before checking Zagat's or Yelp, why shouldn't you be able to do the same thing when your life is at stake?"

.....If medical errors were a disease, they would be the sixth leading cause of death in America—just behind accidents and ahead of Alzheimer's. The human toll aside, medical errors cost the U.S. health-care system tens of billions a year. Some 20% to 30% of all medications, tests and procedures are unnecessary, according to research done by medical specialists, surveying their own fields. What other industry misses the mark this often?" - Marty Makary, WSJ