Did you know...
Medical interventions have become the third leading cause of death in America.
An estimated 10 percent of Americans are implanted with medical devices -- like pacemakers, artificial hips, cardiac stents, etc.
The overwhelming majority of high-risk implanted devices have never undergone a single clinical trial.
In The Danger Within Us, award-winning journalist Jeanne Lenzer brings these horrifying statistics to life through the story of one working class man who, after his "cure" nearly kills him, ends up in a battle for justice against the medical establishment.
His crusade leads Lenzer on a journey through the dark underbelly of the medical device industry, a fascinating and disturbing world that hasn't been written about before. What Lenzer exposes will shock readers: rampant corruption, elaborate cover-ups, shameless profiteering, and astonishing lack of oversight, all of which leads to dangerous devices (from artificial hips to pacemakers) going to market and into our bodies.
In the vein of America's Bitter Pill and A Civil Action, The Danger Within Us is a stirring call for reform and a must-read for anyone who cares about the future of American healthcare.
"Before you get anything implanted in your body, read this book."-Shannon Brownlee, author of Overtreated
Industry Reviews
"Blazing a new trail in medical research, Lenzer examines these medical devices and the industry surrounding them...These well-researched findings show how medical devices and implants may do more harm than good."--Shelf Awareness
"Engrossing and terrifying...Lenzer takes readers deep into the processes by which medical devices are approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Thorough research is skillfully interwoven with the story of Dennis Fegan, whose struggle to expose the dangers of an implanted device that nearly killed him is both gripping and emotionally affecting... Highly recommended."--Library Journal (Starred Review)
"In this disturbing and riveting book, the indefatigable investigative reporter Jeanne Lenzer tells the story of how millions of Americans are implanted with medical devices with almost no proof that they are safe. Lenzer exposes the web of commercial incentives governing their use, and the refusal of the manufacturers and the FDA to take responsibility when things go wrong."--Marcia Angell, former editor-in-chief, the New England Journal of Medicine, and author of The Truth
"Jeanne Lenzer has pulled off a brilliant literary hat trick; a page-turning tale of one patient's odyssey, combined with hard-hitting investigative reporting and a compelling call to arms to fix America's broken health care system. Before you get anything implanted in your body, read this book."--Shannon Brownlee, author of Overtreated
"Jeanne Lenzer's incisive investigation of one man's quest for medical justice - and the regulatory failures behind it - is a must-read for anyone wanting to understand the risks faced by all of us during routine procedures. And it should be, for all of us, a call to action."--Deborah Blum, Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and author of The Poisoner's Handbook
"Lenzer makes an excellent, often disturbing case for 'a new national attitude toward healthcare.'"--Publishers Weekly (Starred Review)
"Lenzer, a medical investigative journalist, powerfully details some alarming reasons hospital CEOs, insurance executives, and doctors become millionaires... Readers will be impressed with Lenzer's profiles of doctors who decry unnecessary treatments and tests, decline to take money for drug company sponsored talks, advocate disentangling money and medicine, and promote 'doing as little as possible to patients and as much as possible for patients.'"--Booklist (Starred Review)
"Lenzer's gripping and carefully researched book addresses why America needs a New Deal in health care. This book enlightens, enrages, and will surely help advance that cause."--Bernard Lown, cardiologist, Emeritus Professor, Harvard School of Public Health and Nobel Peace Priz
"More than a decade ago, longtime BMJ contributor Lenzer abandoned her career as an emergency room physician associate to become an investigative medical journalist. Her debut book, an inspired inquiry into the politics of the industry, is startling and provocative . . . Reading like a cross between a riveting medical thriller and 'a Kafka novel', the book is a powerful cautionary tale . . . An impassioned expose that uncovers a significant danger within the contemporary health care industry."--Kirkus
"One of the best books in medicine I have read. A splendid, savage story about the failings of modern device regulation that reads like a mystery, not a work of medical non-fiction: It turns out to be both."--Vinay Prasad, Assistant Professor of Medicine, Oregon Health and Science University, and author of E
