In election after election, conservative white Americans have embraced politicians who pledge to make their lives great again. But as physician Jonathan M. Metzl shows in Dying of Whiteness, the policies that result actually place white Americans at ever-greater risk of sickness and death. Interviewing a range of everyday Americans, Metzl examines how racial resentment has fueled progun laws in Missouri, resistance to the Affordable Care Act in Tennessee, and cuts to schools and social services in Kansas. He shows these policies' costs: increasing deaths by gun suicide, falling life expectancies, and rising dropout rates.

Now updated with a new afterword, Dying of Whiteness demonstrates how much white America would benefit by emphasizing cooperation rather than chasing false promises of supremacy.

Winner of the Robert F. Kennedy Book Award

A fascinating window into the secret life of epidemiology, weaving together stories of triumph and tragedy, with a boots-on-the-ground perspective on how we can avert the next public health crisis

There are few visible markers of the accomplishments of public health. When epidemiologists do their jobs, nothing happens. An outbreak does not grow into an epidemic. A child does not go hungry. A would-be smoker never lights up. In this fascinating window into the secret life of public health, Caitlin Rivers weaves together stories of triumph and tragedy to show that by making sure things don't happen, she and legions of scientists, practitioners, and policymakers change the course of history.

We have many of the tools and experiences needed to prevent the next crisis, but as past experiences teach us, the unexpected is always around the corner. We cannot afford complacency, as countless challenges remain, including constantly emerging pathogens, the rapid growth of biotechnology, and the inconsistent cycles of funding for public health programs. Progress can be slow, but the unsung heroes in epidemiology remain focused on their missions. Crisis Averted tells their stories--from the eradication of smallpox in the twentieth century to a battle against mosquito-borne diseases in the Florida Keys to the international safeguards implemented against extraterrestrial germs.

By taking a candid look at how we solve problems in public health, Caitlin Rivers illuminates the role of epidemiology in all our lives and lays out the case for what can be accomplished given sufficient vision, leadership, and resources. Crisis Averted is an inspiring and galvanizing call for us to work together towards a healthier, more resilient future.

Featuring more than 1,700 Q&As and summaries of important points for each chapter, this valuable resource provides the most complete review available for the surgical technology certification (CST) exam. The book is divided into six core sections to facilitate more effective studying and review.

LANGE Q&A Surgical Technology Examination, Eighth Edition includes detailed answer explanations and covers all major areas of the surgical technology curriculum. This is an essential resource for students preparing for the certification exam as well as surgical technologists looking for the latest information on specific procedures such as orthopedics, plastic surgery, and emergency procedures.

• 1,700+ exam-style questions with detailed answer explanations prepare you for what you will actually see on the exam
• Organized into six core sections for the most effective study possible: Fundamental Knowledge, Infection Control, Concepts of Patient Care, Preoperative Preparation, Intraoperative and Postoperative Procedures, and Technology in the Operating Room
• Chapter synopses summarize key topics, terms, and objectives in quick-read bulleted text
• Thorough coverage of cutting-edge topics such as robotics and endoscopic surgery
• Ideal for use during coursework and for intensive exam preparation

In election after election, conservative white Americans have embraced politicians who pledge to make their lives great again. But as Dying of Whiteness shows, right-wing policies put these voters' very health at risk--and in the end, threaten everyone's well-being. Physician and sociologist Jonathan M. Metzl travels across America's heartland seeking to better understand the politics of racial resentment and its impact on public health. Interviewing a range of Americans, he uncovers how racial anxieties led to the repeal of gun control laws in Missouri, fueled massive cuts to schools and social services in Kansas, and stymied healthcare reform across the country. Although such measures promised to restore greatness to white America, Metzl's systematic analysis of health data reveals they did just the opposite: these policies made life sicker, harder, and shorter in the very populations they purported to aid. Thus, white gun suicides soared, life expectancies fell, and school dropout rates rose.  

Now with a new foreword on the backlash to the American pandemic response, Dying of Whiteness demonstrates how much white America would benefit by emphasizing cooperation, rather than chasing false promises of supremacy. 

The book that's been helping people with diabetes live their best lives for 20 years

Diabetes For Dummies is a trusted resource that guides those diagnosed with diabetes and pre-diabetes and their caregivers towards optimal health. This book helps you, or those you love, achieve the life you want while managing diabetes with lifestyle changes, alternative therapies and the latest medications. This fully updated edition helps you tackle your symptoms with the confidence that you're doing the latest stuff and following the newest advances in diabetes treatment. Powerful lifestyle strategies, new medications, monitoring equipment, nutritional guidelines, delicious recipes, and insulin delivery methods--it's all in this friendly Dummies guide.

• Understand the types of diabetes and learn about your diagnosis
• Learn the latest treatment options, medications, and evidence-based therapies
• Manage your symptoms and live a full life with expert diet and lifestyle tips
• Answer your questions with this trusted, compassionate guide, now in its 6^th edition
• Take control and understand how to improve or even prevent and reverse prediabetes and diabetes

This book is an indispensable resource for those newly diagnosed with diabetes, and prediabetes, their loved ones, and care givers, as well as health care professionals who need an up-to-date reference on the latest in diabetes research.

In the Greek Trojan War saga, the god Apollo ensured that Cassandra's prophecies would never be believed, with disastrous consequences. As recounted in the book, modern medicine, too, has produced its fair share of medical Cassandras--doctors and writers who have tried to warn the public about medicine's life-threatening underbelly, generally to little avail. A chapter dedicated to nine of these medical skeptics, beginning with Ivan Illich and his coining of the term iatrogenesis to describe adverse outcomes caused by doctors, weaves a powerful portrait of harms regularly denied and ignored, with those making the claims typically marginalized and canceled.

The book shows that there is no shortage of tools in the killing machine arsenal. One chapter highlights the mRNA vaccine technology inaugurated with COVID, illustrating how this new mechanism for iatrogenesis is inflicting novel forms of toxicity, not all of which are yet understood. Another chapter about assisted suicide and euthanasia describes the chilling global proliferation of policies and propaganda promoting those practices for vulnerable populations that include babies, children, people diagnosed with autism, and the mentally ill. The book also describes factors that make it possible for the killing machine to continue operating with impunity, including the ascendance of an evidence-based medicine juggernaut, medical gaslighting, and a ballooning global enforcement infrastructure. Nor does it shy away from confronting what some now characterize as iatrogenocide; a chapter asking Why Do They Do It? considers money, prestige, and control as three possible answers.

Ultimately, it is only by acknowledging the long-standing reality of an all-too-effective medical-pharmaceutical killing machine that people can learn to dodge the threats and work toward building a different model that prioritizes life and genuine health.

In Life under Pressure, Anna S. Mueller and Seth Abrutyn investigate the social roots of youth suicide and why certain places weather disproportionate incidents of adolescent suicides and suicide clusters. Through close examination of kids' lives in a community repeatedly rocked by youth suicide clusters, Mueller and Abrutyn reveal how the social worlds that youth inhabit and the various messages they learn in those spaces--about who they are supposed to be, mental illness, and help-seeking--shape their feelings about themselves and in turn their risk of suicide. With great empathy, Mueller and Abrutyn also identify the moments when adults unintentionally fail kids by not talking to them about suicide, teaching them how to seek help, or helping them grieve.

Through stories of survival, resilience, and even rebellion, Mueller and Abrutyn show how social environments can cause suicide and how they can be changed to help kids discover a life worth living. By revealing what it is like to live and die in one community, Life under Pressure offers tangible solutions to one of the twenty-first century's most tragic public health problems.

A book that takes you inside the culture of surveillance that pits healthcare providers against their patients

Doctors and pharmacists make critical decisions every day about whether to dispense opioids that alleviate pain but fuel addiction. Faced with a drug crisis that has already claimed more than a million lives, legislatures, courts, and policymakers have enlisted the help of technology in the hopes of curtailing prescriptions and preventing deaths. This book reveals how this Trojan horse technology embeds the logics of surveillance in the practice of medicine, forcing care providers to police their patients while undermining public trust and doing untold damage to those at risk.

Elizabeth Chiarello draws on hundreds of in-depth interviews with physicians, pharmacists, and enforcement agents across the United States to take readers to the frontlines of the opioid crisis, where medical providers must make difficult choices between treating and punishing the people in their care. States now employ prescription drug monitoring programs capable of tracking all controlled substances within a state and across state lines. Chiarello describes how the reliance on these databases blurs the line between medicine and criminal justice and pits pain sufferers against people with substance-use disorders in a zero-sum game.

Shedding critical light on this brave new world of healthcare, Policing Patients urges medical providers to reaffirm their roles as healers and proposes invaluable policy solutions centered on treatment, prevention, and harm reduction.

One in four Americans suffer from mental illness, yet 75% receive no treatment at all - discover why our healthcare system is failing millions and learn how we can fix it.

In this groundbreaking examination of America's mental health crisis, internationally recognized physician Dr. Robert C. Smith exposes the devastating gap between physical and mental health treatment. Drawing on decades of clinical experience and evidence-based research, he reveals how the historical mind-body split in medicine has created a two-tier system of care with catastrophic consequences.

Key revelations include:

• Why medical schools fail to properly train physicians in mental health care
• How untreated mental illness costs society hundreds of billions in preventable healthcare expenses
• The hidden toll on families and communities when depression, anxiety, and substance abuse go untreated
• A practical roadmap for reform that puts mental health care on equal footing with physical medicine

Written with both scientific rigor and compassionate insight, this urgent call to action provides policymakers, healthcare leaders, and concerned citizens with a clear path forward. Dr. Smith, recipient of the George Engel Award and Career Teaching Achievement Award, brings unparalleled expertise to this critical examination of how we can transform mental healthcare in America.

The global pandemic led to renewed interest in health disparities; however, numerous medical schools, residency programs, outpatient clinics, and hospital organizations were not equipped to teach about health equity.

In Health Equity: A Guide for Clinicians, Medical Educators & Healthcare Organizations, Dr. Bonzo Reddick presents a framework for addressing health disparities that can be applied to most situations of systemic and institutional bias and to situations of personal bias and discrimination. The scenarios, anecdotes, and interactive activities within this book will enlighten and refresh health educators, physicians, resident physicians, medical students, health professions students, and other healthcare and allied health professionals.

Whether used as an introduction to health disparities, a text to assist in teaching about health inequities, or a tool to help your organization develop a framework for achieving health equity, this is an essential guidebook for those ready to reassess their approach to the equitable care of all people.

A doctor's firsthand account of the devastating impacts of gun violence--and how we can end this epidemic.

Gun violence has become the leading cause of death for children and has decreased the lifespan of American adults by 2.5 years. In 2021, more than forty-eight thousand people were killed by guns in the United States. Nearly twice as many were injured. But beyond these statistics are the untold stories of doctors and health care workers who work to save the lives of victims of gun violence.

In this powerful and moving book, Cedric Dark takes readers into the harrowing experiences of these physicians. Dark intertwines these stories with an examination of policies that could save countless lives. Combining research, an examination of gun culture, and an exploration of policy options, Under the Gun equips readers with a new understanding of the data and stories needed to confront and persuade politicians to better protect the health and safety of Americans.

As an emergency room doctor whose own family has been affected by gun violence, Dark intimately understands how gun violence can destroy lives and communities. He reflects on the events that bring people to the ER while also talking to doctors who not only treat victims of gun violence but also own guns themselves. Under the Gun is a powerful meditation on this uniquely American epidemic and an urgent call to action toward a balanced gun policy in the United States.

An urgent call to action on a rising--and preventable--trend.

Each year in the United States alone, nearly 50,000 individuals die by suicide; more than 1.2 million others attempt it. John Bateson, former executive director of a suicide prevention center, examines this national tragedy from multiple angles while debunking common myths, sharing demographic data, and identifying risk factors and warning signs. Suicide provides essential information about the current landscape surrounding suicide in the United States as well as strategies to prevent further tragedy.

Bateson emphasizes that the rise in suicide and attempted suicide is not only a mental health issue affecting individuals but also an urgent problem for society at large. He discusses suicide in parks, prisons, and the military, as well as assisted suicide, suicide by cop, and murder-suicide. In particular, he details the stark relationship among guns, drugs, jump sites, and suicide, focusing on one of the most effective ways to prevent suicide--restricting access to lethal means. In addition to presenting practical information for identifying people at risk of suicide, Bateson details important steps that individuals, businesses, and the government can take to end this public health problem.

Rob Gore first encountered violence when he was beaten and robbed as a 10-year old; it was treated as an inevitable fact of life, but after another brush with violence as a teen, he began to reject that prevalent attitude. As he matured and became a doctor, he grew in his determination to find treatments for what he saw not as an unavoidable fact for most people living in vulnerable, underserved neighborhoods especially, but as a public health issue that could be addressed by early intervention and solid support, beginning in the medical community. He also became deeply involved in efforts to diversify the entire field of medicine, starting with the front lines in the Emergency Department.

Seeing his brother, Angel, and close friend, Willis, fall prey to the epidemic of violence with profound--and in Willis's case--deadly consequences, Rob began seriously researching the issue and went on to found an organization which is one of the models for successful approaches to reducing violence and protecting victims, who are disproportionately BIPOC, living in impoverished neighborhoods, or members of the LGBTQ+ community. Here he provides not only statistics, but stories of what he witnessed in NYC neighborhoods, in Atlanta, Chicago, Buffalo, and even in medical work in Haiti and Kenya. His work with the Kings Against Violence Initiate (KAVI) and allied organizations is a blueprint for treating violence not as a police matter, but as a public health crisis, which can and should be addressed and substantially reduced. The people he introduces us to in these pages are not merely victims, but often advocates, paving the way for eliminating the epidemic of violence in our country.

Dr. Peter Hotez discusses how an antivaccine movement became a dangerous political campaign promoted by elected officials and amplified by news media, causing thousands of American deaths.

During the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, one renowned scientist, in his famous bowtie, appeared daily on major news networks such as MSNBC, NPR, the BBC, and others. Dr. Peter J. Hotez often went without sleep, working around the clock to develop a nonprofit COVID-19 vaccine and to keep the public informed. During that time, he was one of the most trusted voices on the pandemic and was even nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize for his selfless work. He also became one of the main targets of anti-science rhetoric that gained traction through conservative news media.

In this eyewitness story of how the anti-vaccine movement grew into a dangerous and prominent anti-science element in American politics, Hotez describes the devastating impacts it has had on Americans' health and lives. As a scientist who has endured antagonism from anti-vaxxers and been at the forefront of both essential scientific discovery and advocacy, Hotez is uniquely qualified to tell this story. By weaving his personal experiences together with information on how the anti-vaccine movement became a tool of far-right political figures around the world, Hotez opens readers' eyes to the dangers of anti-science. He explains how anti-science became a major societal and lethal force: in the first years of the pandemic, more than 200,000 unvaccinated Americans needlessly died despite the widespread availability of COVID-19 vaccines. Even as he paints a picture of the world under a shadow of aggressive ignorance, Hotez demonstrates his innate optimism, offering solutions for how to combat science denial and save lives in the process.

With over 750 references cited, the book delivers a contemporary overview of major adolescent issues and how they relate to one another, including the impacts of war, technology, and the pandemic on youth. In addition, a broad overview of the major biopsychosocial issues facing adolescents is offered. There are multiple themes that include the importance of role modeling, monitoring, and talking with teens as well as the strong influence of parents, peers, and schools on adolescents.

Dr. Peter Hotez discusses how the antivaccine movement became a dangerous political campaign promoted by elected officials and amplified by news media, causing thousands of American deaths.

Shortlisted for the Non-Obvious Book Awards by the Non-Obvious Company

During the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, one renowned scientist, in his famous bowtie, appeared daily on major news networks such as MSNBC, NPR, the BBC, and others. Dr. Peter J. Hotez often went without sleep, working around the clock to develop a nonprofit COVID-19 vaccine and to keep the public informed. During that time, he was one of the most trusted voices on the pandemic and was even nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize for his selfless work. He also became one of the main targets of anti-science rhetoric that gained traction through conservative news media.

In this eyewitness story of how the anti-vaccine movement grew into a dangerous and prominent anti-science element in American politics, Hotez describes the devastating impacts it has had on Americans' health and lives. As a scientist who has endured antagonism from anti-vaxxers and been at the forefront of both essential scientific discovery and advocacy, Hotez is uniquely qualified to tell this story. By weaving his personal experiences together with information on how the anti-vaccine movement became a tool of far-right political figures around the world, Hotez opens readers' eyes to the dangers of anti-science. He explains how anti-science became a major societal and lethal force: in the first years of the pandemic, more than 200,000 unvaccinated Americans needlessly died despite the widespread availability of COVID-19 vaccines. Even as he paints a picture of the world under a shadow of aggressive ignorance, Hotez demonstrates his innate optimism, offering solutions for how to combat science denial and save lives in the process.

For the crime of falling sick without wealth, Americans today face lawsuits, wage garnishment, home foreclosure, and even jail time.

Yet who really profits from aggressive medical debt collection? And how does this predatory system affect patients and doctors responsible for their care?

Your Money or Your Life reveals how medical debt collection became a multibillion-dollar industry and how everyday Americans are made to pay the price. Emergency physician and historian Luke Messac weaves patient stories into a history of law, finance, and medicine to show how debt and debt collection are destroying the foundational trust between doctors and patients at the heart of American healthcare. The fight to stop aggressive collection tactics has brought together people from all corners of the political spectrum. But if we want to better protect the sick from financial ruin, we have to understand how we got here.

With wit and clarity, Your Money or Your Life asks us all to rethink the purpose of our modern healthcare system and consider whom it truly serves.

In When the City Stopped, Robert Snyder tells the story of COVID-19 in the words of ordinary New Yorkers, illuminating the fear and uncertainty of life in the early weeks and months, as well as the solidarity that sustained the city. New Yorkers were alone together, separated by the protective measures of social distancing and the fundamental inequalities of life and work in New York City. Through their personal accounts, we see that while many worked from home, others knowingly exposed themselves to the dangers of the pandemic as they drove buses, ran subways, answered 911 calls, tended to the sick, and made and delivered meals.

Snyder builds bridges of knowledge and empathy between those who bore dangerous burdens and those who lived in relative safety. The story is told through the words of health care workers, grocery clerks, transit workers, and community activists who recount their experiences in poems, first-person narratives, and interviews. When the City Stopped preserves for future generations what it was like to be in New York when it was at the center of the pandemic.