Jihad and American Medicine: Thinking Like a Terrorist to Anticipate Attacks via Our Health System / Edition 1

by Adam F. Dorin M.D.

Overview

State-of-the-art counter-terrorism techniques, insights into modern medical practice, medical errors, and disaster prevention all intersect in this groundbreaking book by Adam Dorin, M.D., an anesthesiologist and medical director across 15 years. Dr. Dorin shows us why our healthcare system may be the next Ground Zero for terrorism and how many opportunities there are for terrorists to infiltrate the system. He offers a history of medical and healthcare-related serial killers, showing how they got inside the system to murder relatively easily, takes a detailed look at the profound problems that already exist in counterfeit and tainted medicinal products, and describes biological, chemical, and nuclear terrorism that could be used against our healthcare system. Most critically, Dr. Dorin presents a detailed blueprint for safeguarding our system and preventing medical terrorism from ever taking place.

In tackling largely hidden but potentially deadly issues such as the failures of security at hospitals and surgical centers, Dr. Dorin's unique book offers the first in-depth public expose and loud alert to the risks and gaping weak spots in our healthcare system. Written simply and clearly, this work will interest all readers concerned with terrorism and the ways they might become victim to it. Dr. Dorin's warnings should certainly also interest and inform leaders and employees in the security, law enforcement, and medical fields.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780275996376
Publisher:	Bloomsbury Academic
Publication date:	11/30/2007
Series:	The Praeger Series on Contemporary Health and Living
Edition description:	New Edition
Pages:	208
Product dimensions:	6.14(w) x 9.21(h) x 0.50(d)

About the Author

Adam Frederic Dorin, M.D., is Medical Director at the SHARP Grossmont Plaza Surgery Center, and a Member-Shareholder of the Anesthesia Services Medical Group. He earned his pre-medical degree at the University of Maryland, completed his medical training at the University of Maryland School of Medicine, and completed his residency in anesthesiology and critical care medicine at Johns Hopkins University. Dr. Dorin served as an officer in the United States Naval Reserve, where he attained the rank of Lieutenant Commander. He has been in private practice as an anesthesiologist and medical director for 15 years. He has also been a volunteer surveyor of freestanding surgery centers across the nation.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments
Introduction: American Health Care Facilities May Be the Next Ground Zero
1 Medi-Terror: The Stage Is Set
2 How Your Doctor Can Kill You (Without Even Knowing What He's Done)
3 Evil Precedents—Health Care Workers Gone Bad
4 Faking It (Counterfeit Medicines, Criminals, and Terrorists: The History and Implications of Compromised Pharmaceutical Security)
5 Hospital and Surgery Center "Security"…or Lack Thereof, Part I: Overview
6 Hospital and Surgery Center "Security," Part II: Breaking In from the Outside
7 Hospital Security, Part III: Thinking Like a Terrorist—The Inside Job
8 Accreditation Standards—Lax or Not Enforced?
9 Doctors' Offices Are Vulnerable
10 What We Can Do and Must Do Stat (Antidotes and Anecdotes)
11 As a Patient, What You Can Do to Protect Yourself—19 Tips for Survival
12 The Power for Change—One Doctor at a Time
Appendix A: A History of Medical-Related "Terrorism," Poisons, and Murder
Appendix B: Drug-ATMs
Notes
Index

What People are Saying About This

Senator Andrew P. Harris

"This book is a must-read for public policy makers who seek to deal with the related issues of promoting patient safety and protection from medical terrorism. Written by a practicing physician who deals with patients and our health care system, it offers insights into how and why our health care system is so vulnerable to both intentional as well as unintentional harm to patients. Understanding these vulnerabilities and dealing with them through well-thought out public policy will result in safer, and better, care."

Robert Kotler

"Dr. Dorin sounds the alarm on two critical and related fronts. First, he details the recognized current safety failings of our medical-care system. That alone is worthy of a read. Then, thinking far beyond the box, he presents scenarios by which our dedicated and fanatical Jihadist enemies might exploit those big chinks in that medical-care safety armor. It's thoughtful and thought-provoking. A must read for anyone who is or might ever be a patient. And, that means every American."

Thomas L. Norman

"Dr. Dorin has developed a book of unusual breadth and clarity, probing details on healthcare security that are at once obscure and critical, and in many cases, of which the security industry is nearly totally ignorant. I found the conversational tone to be easy to read and captivating. The book is hard to put down."

Editorial Reviews

Dorin, an anesthesiologist, naval officer, and medical administrator, aptly analyzes the US health care system and exposes its vulnerabilities. Who better than an anesthesiologist to look for potential weaknesses and devise a contingency plan-it is what he does every day….Jihad and American Medicine will open readers' eyes and prompt them to take medical security more personally. If it does, Dorin will have achieved his goal.” —Jourbanal of the American Medical Association

“[T]akes full measure of the state of American health care from a security perspective. Dr. Dorin, medical director at the Sharp Grossmont Plaza Surgery Center in San Diego, depicts a medical system riddled with loopholes that could be abused by terrorists or by single individuals intent on causing harm. He argues all health entities are at high risk for terrorist attack, because they represent the most vulnerable of 'soft targets' of our nation's infrastructure….Dr. Dorin's writing style is provocative, with attention-grabbing chapter headings….[H]e said he wrote the book not to make a political statement but to improve the health system and save lives.” —Anesthesiology News

From the Publisher