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You are here > Home > Reading Lists > Healthcare Policy & Politics > The Hippocratic Myth: Why Doctors Have to Ration Care, Practice Politics and Compromise Their Promise to Heal The Hippocratic Myth: Why Doctors Have to Ration Care, Practice Politics and Compromise Their Promise to Heal M. Gregg Bloche Hardcover: 272 pages ISBN 0230603734 978-0230603738 Palgrave Macmillan April 2011 (click the button below for the very best currently available price for this important title) "An intriguing examination of the moral and political dimensions of some of the most important medical issues of the day."--Sandeep Jauhar, author of Intern: A Doctor's Initiation "Bloche draws the curtain back on the central tension in health care: we can do far more in medicine than we can pay for – and somebody has to decide what gets done. Who should that be? Doctors try to hide behind their oath and claim they act exclusively in the interests of patients, but Bloche shows that this is a myth. They are entangled in the economics of incentives and limits. Physicians and patients alike will be disturbed, even angered, by this book. That’s why they must read it." --Stuart M. Butler, The Heritage Foundation   When we’re ill, we put our trust in doctors who promise to put our well-being first and pledge to do us no harm. But medicine’s expanding capabilities and soaring costs threaten to make this commitment obsolete. Increasingly, warns Gregg Bloche, society is calling upon physicians to ration care and to put their skills to use on behalf of insurance companies, hospital bureaucrats, government officials, and courts of law. Doctors have increasingly answered this call, putting patient trust and health at risk, while endangering citizens’ liberty and privacy. In this book, Dr. Bloche evocatively communicates the tensions and emotions of doctors and patients as he takes on a wide variety of complex ethical situations, including how: doctors have double agendas, as caregivers and arbiters of cost, compromising their ability to prioritize patient needs medicine has become a weapon in America’s internal fight over such matters as abortion, assisted suicide, and the rights of gays and lesbians doctors decide, under pressure from insurers and hospital administrators, to discontinue potentially life-saving treatment, even when patients and family members object. Challenging, provocative, and insightful Do No Harm breaks the code of silence shrouding medicine’s routine departure from the promise of uncompromising loyalty to patients. It is a powerful warning about the need for doctors to forge a new compact with patients and society. This is a hard hitting message for the medical community and anyone who has ever been a patient.   Gregg Bloche MD JD is an award-winning health policy expert and a Professor of Law and Public Health at Georgetown University as well as senior fellow at the Brookings Institution. Recipient of the Guggenheim award, he has written for The New York Times, Los Angeles Times, Washington Post, and appeared on 60 Minutes, NBC, CNN, ABC, NPR, and more. He serves as White House advisor on health care and lives in Washington, D.C. If you are interested in policy or books about health care reform, please see our up-to-date collection here: Politics, Policy & Reform. You may also be interested in / The Directory of Healthcare Recruiters / Jump to a List / Health Administration & Leadership / Physician Executive, Medical Staff & Practice Management / Finance, Accounting, Economics, Billing & Reimbursement / Coding for Hospital, Physician & Clinical Services / Law, Malpractice, Ethics, Accreditation & Compliance / Quality Improvement, Outcomes & Customer Service / Risk Management, Security, Error Reduction & Patient Safety / Information Systems, Technology & Medical Records / Clinical Management & Executive Nursing / Behavioral Health, Social Work & Psychiatry Management / Human Resources, Management & Supervision / Directories, Data, Trends & Benchmarks / Software & CD-ROMs / Gift Ideas & Recommended Gifts / Journals, Magazines & Newsletters / Politics, Policy & Reform / Search for Books / Books Index / Go to / Home Page / Toolbox for Health Administrators / Bookstore