The Secrets of Medical Decision Making: How to Avoid Becoming a Victim of the Health Care Machine

Learn the truth about the medical industry and it's wasteful and dangerous business scams. What you will learn may save your life.

House, E.R. and Grays Anatomy are not realistic portrayals of the American medical system. According to Dr. Resnik physicians are so afraid of litigation that any deviation from pre-set protocols to treat the patient as an individual and not the so-called disease is unusual. Doctors like Greg House, John Carter would be immediately dismissed and find it impossible to acquire mal-practice insurance. It is chilling to think that the media inspired idea of the omnipotent good-hearted doctor like Marcus Welby or reassuring throaty voiced Dr. Kelly Bracket from Emergency is so false. When sickness strikes us or a loved one, we expect that in this technological twenty-first century age of marvels that just like our cars or appliances that have `crapped the bed': A. We can be fixed with some kind of medication or therapy. Or B. Our parts can be removed and replaced and we can continuer our lives already in progress and unabated. Doctor Reznik has pried our heads from the sand, removed our rose-colored glasses and has cut off our source of pap from the glass teat. He has taught us to advocate for ourselves and ask questions, even while the insurance and pharmaceutical behemoths perpetuate the myth that an American homeostasis of mental and physical health is only one more pill, test or procedure away.

Oleg I. Reznik M.D. has coined the term "Medical Box" to illustrate the boxed-in thinking imposed on physicians. He calls the four corners of the box: fear of litigation, financial and time pressure, guidelines of Health Care authorities, and the current Medical Model, disease oriented thinking. Dr. Reznik uses vignettes from actual medical records, his own experience, and from the experiences of his colleagues to further illustrate the implications of the obstacles placed on the physician and the medical profession as a whole. Each vignette reflects the perspective of the physician, the patient and family, sometimes the societal, and finally the spiritual/philosophical view as it relates to treatment, suffering, guilt, and in the final preparation of facing death. Reznik supports the belief that the patient should assume more responsibility in learning the options available to him, the side effects that may result, and the expected results of taking action. He suggests asking these three questions. What is the doctor trying to find out from the testing? How will this additional information affect medical management and prognosis? What does the testing entail? What are the risks of test or procedure? "Secrets of Medical Decision Making" freely uses detailed descriptions of medical treatments, tests, and procedures written in a layman's language. Rezik has produced an outstanding work. This is a guide to help patients avoid becoming victims of the health care machine. It is truly an eye opener. Dr. Rezik is well qualified to write this book. He is a board certified family physician. This study is an important addition to studies on patient advocacy. Rezik has done thorough research and has provided comprehensive reference documentation. Physicians, medical practitioners, and patients will all benefit from reading this book. It is both, enlightening, and instructive. This is a book to be read and read again.

Reviewed by Kelli Glesige for Reader Views (2/06) If you want to know why doctors make some of the recommendations they do, then here is the book for you. Speaking as both a physician and a patient, Reznik helps us to understand what motivates our physicians and why they often say the things they do. "The Secrets of Medical Decision Making" is a book we can all benefit from reading because we all need health care at some time, or we are put in the situation of needing to make medical decisions for another. Oleg I. Reznik, M.D. has a goal of making us conscious and informed in the medical decisions we must make; by doing so we could have a much better health care system than we currently have. Reznik calls our current health care system The Health Care Machine because it has become so mechanical. So many demands must be met that it is almost like an assembly line. As patients, we need to have freedom to make our choices and to question the system. The physicians and other health care workers are placed in a position called The Medical Box within The Health Care Machine because they are pressured to have only a standard, mechanical response to any given set of problems. As patients, we need to be aware of this system and the way it works so we can be aware of the limitations. Doctors are not omnipotent, which so many of us want to believe, and they should be relieved of such a burden, but so often, they are forced to stay "in the box" to protect themselves. To ease our understanding of the material Reznik presents, he addresses four different viewpoints with each topic. Patient/Family Perspective deals with issues that would be most relevant to prospective patients and their families. Physician's Perspective gives the physicians viewpoint on the discussed topic. Societal Perspective gives the ramifications on the society as a whole. Spiritual/Philosophical Perspective talks about the spiritual and philosophical aspects of medical care because these cannot be taken from any attempt at trying to understand a human being. Dr. Reznik presents true stories of actual clinical studies in his book to help explain the "rules of the game" in this game of health care. He wants us to understand what drives the doctor so that we can learn to be more self-reliant. I found the information on several different medical tests to be quite informative. We are given some questions to think about before agreeing to a test and the reasons why doctors prescribe the tests to begin with. Reznik speaks at length about prostate screening and the treatment of prostate cancer, mammograms, and how the statistics on cancer survival have progressed. All the information he presents is quite interesting and worth one's time to read in order to be a more informed individual. Everyone may not find all the information presented by Reznik to be relevant, but we can all benefit from the ideas presented. I personally will feel less intimidated the next time I ask, "

Dr Reznik has written a highly informative book that Americans need to read for the knowledge that most of us don't have. In today's constantly changing medical world, we need all the help that we can get. Many thanks to Dr Reznik for sharing with us. (posted for a friend in Cicero, NY, not able to access the website)