The Empowered Patient - How to Get the Right Diagnosis, Buy the Cheapest Drugs, Beat Your

Zusatztext “A book no household should be without.”—Sanjay Gupta! MD “ The Empowered Patient is a must-read for everyone. Elizabeth Cohen reveals insider knowledge about the uncertainty of medicine—things every doctor knows—and then helps you steer a clear path to health!”—Christiane Northrup! MD! author of Women’s Bodies! Women’s Wisdom   “Elizabeth Cohen offers guidance to get the most from your doctor! your insurance company! and even your medicine. This book will hold your hand! make you smart! and may even save your life.”—Nancy Snyderman! MD! chief medical editor! NBC News Informationen zum Autor Elizabeth Cohen is Senior Medical Correspondent for CNN and author of the popular “Empowered Patient” column on cnn.com. She received her master’s in Public Health from Boston University and her bachelor’s degree from Columbia University in New York City. She lives in Atlanta, Georgia, with her husband, Tal Cohen, and four daughters. Klappentext The facts are alarming: Medical errors kill more people each year than AIDS, breast cancer, or car accidents. A doctor's relationship with pharmaceutical companies may influence his choice of drugs for you. The wrong key word on an insurance claim can deny you coverage. Through real life stories, including her own, and shrewd advice, CNN's Elizabeth Cohen shows you how to become your own advocate and navigate the minefield of today's health-care system. But there's good news. Discover how to • find a doctor who "gets" you and listens to you • ask the right questions for the best treatment • make the most out of a short office visit • cut out-of-pocket costs for prescription drugs • harness the power of the Internet for medical issues • fight back when claims are denied Combining the personal stories of patients across America with crucial advice on receiving the best possible health care, this guide will enable you to confront an often confusing and perilous system-and come out ahead.Chapter One How to Be a "Bad Patient" You probably know Evan Handler as Harry Goldenblatt, Charlotte York's adorable, bald husband on Sex and the City, or as Charlie Runkle, the agent for David Duchovny's character on Californication. What you probably don't know is that Evan Handler was a "bad patient"-a patient so bad doctors dreaded him and nurses cursed him. But Handler swears that being a bad patient saved his life. When Handler was diagnosed with leukemia at the age of twenty-three, his doctors told him he probably wouldn't survive, and so Handler eventually left those doctors and found others across the country who were more optimistic. When Handler was undergoing chemotherapy, a doctor yelled at him for calling about a fever because the fever was "only" 100 degrees. Handler fired him. "Doctors told me I would be endangering my care if I switched doctors, but that advice was criminal," he told me. He continued this "bad patient" behavior even after he recovered from cancer. "Recently I needed to have something in my mouth looked at," Handler told me. "The doctor performed a biopsy without lidocaine-just put a blade in my mouth and cut without telling me. I never went back, and I wrote him a three-page letter. You should leave a bad doctor and, if you have the energy, tell him why you left." Several times in the hospital when he was in his twenties, nurses tried to give Handler a medication that his doctor had absolutely forbidden, and he had to argue with the nurses each time to stop them from administering the dangerous drug. Once, a nurse gave him an intravenous medicine that was meant for another patient-the other patient's name was right there on the bag-and Handler was the one to notice the mistake. When hospital workers didn't wear gloves and gowns- the proper procedure when taking care of patients whose immune system...

Product details

• Authors: Elizabeth Cohen, Elizabeth S Cohen, Elizabeth S. Cohen
• Publisher: Ballantine
• Languages: English
• Product format: Paperback / Softback
• Released: 10.08.2010
• EAN: 9780345513748
• ISBN: 978-0-345-51374-8
• No. of pages: 240
• Dimensions: 134 mm x 203 mm x 14 mm
• Subject: Guides > Health