BITTER MEDICINE: What I've Learned and Teach about Malpractice Lawsuits (And How to Avoid Them)

by Dr. Richard E. Kessler, Patrick Trese

Overview

RICHARD KESSLER, M.D., F.A.C.S., retired from the practice of medicine after more than 30 years as a surgeon at the Veterans Administration Hospital in Manhattan and a full professor at the NYU Medical School where he taught surgery and still teaches anatomy. In BITTER MEDICINE, he tells what he's learned first-hand as a medical student, intern, resident, practicing physician, general surgeon, U.S. Army doctor, teacher, researcher and expert witness. Part memoir, part expose, BITTER MEDICINE runs 175 pages, (92,800 words).

"Thanks to lawyers who consulted me," writes Dr. Kessler, "I've amassed a large file of the medical records. They proved to be effective teaching tools. I found that students retain more from studying medical disasters than perfectly executed procedures. Why? Happy outcomes can be boring. Catastrophes are unforgettable. I hope my own experiences and the cases I've discussed with my students will help readers make up their own minds about medical malpractice, health care reform, socialized medicine and other political footballs that are being tossed around today."

Product Details

BN ID:	2940013251786
Publisher:	Patrick Trese
Publication date:	10/30/2011
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
File size:	748 KB

About the Author

Both authors of BITTER MEDICINE, in their separate fields of medicine and journalism, were taught to make scientific information accessible and interesting, to tell the truth while telling a good story.

Richard Kessler, M.D., retired from the practice of medicine in 1995 after more than 30 years as a surgeon at the Veterans Administration Hospital in Manhattan and a full professor at the NYU Medical School where he taught surgery and anatomy. After college, he spent a year studying anatomy at the University of Toronto with Dr. J.C. Boileau Grant, one of the leading anatomists of the 20th Century, whose �Grant�s Atlas of Anatomy� is still a required text. Upon entering the McGill University medical school in Montreal, Dick Kessler was asked to teach anatomy to his classmates because of his 400 hours of instruction from Dr. Grant. (Though retired, he still teaches anatomy to first-year medical students at NYU. The highlights of his career are revealed as he works with students, colleagues, patients and lawyers throughout the book.)

Patrick Trese, an original staff member of the Huntley-Brinkley Report, has been writing professionally since college, mostly network news and documentaries for NBC News. His book about his two seasons making films in Antarctica, Penguins Have Square Eyes, was published by Holt, Rinehart & Winston in 1962. Caril, the story of Caril Fugate who was convicted of first degree murder at age 15, based on his NBC News documentary �Growing Up in Prison,� was published by Lippincott in 1972. During his 30 years at NBC, his awards included a Peabody and several Emmys. After retirement, he wrote the 10-part PBS series �America Goes to War,� narrated by Eric Sevareid and a dozen episodes of �The 20th Century� narrated by Mike Wallace for CBS News Productions. He will soon e-publish his novel, AMDG: An Ignatian Thriller.