Jack Vangrow

Predatory Medicine Redux Jack Vangrow

This story is a factual, provocative account of the personal experience of a cardiologist told after thirty-eight years in private practice. It is told with compelling narrative punctuated with actual patient vignettes exposing aspects of medical practice the author has labeled predatory medicine. He chronicles how lazy, incompetent, or unscrupulous physicians take advantage of medically naive, unsuspecting, and trusting patients. His story begins when he first began his medical practice as a young idealistic doctor and how he quickly learned to look the other way when confronted with unethical behavior of colleagues in order to protect his own prospects for a successful career. It culminates with the final years of his professional life when he was compelled to confront such behaviorand paid a steep price. He documents how the 'systems' ostensibly designed to protect the patient too often fail. He describes how today's complex and evolving health care system, which despite impressive technological advances, allows such behavior to persist and in some cases, actually facilitate it. The author provides specific 'commandments' by which the patient can assess a physician's performance and make an educated determination whether the doctor does care and is providing exemplary medical attention.