My life has been saved by doctors and hospitals on at least three occasions: first, before I was born, when my mother went into labor two months early; second, in my teens, when I nearly stopped breathing as a result of a massive allergic reaction; and third, in my thirties, when I needed emergency brain surgery.

I have a profound appreciation for the intelligence, training, experience, and dedication of everyone who contributes to terrific outcomes in health care. The list includes doctors, nurses, pharmacists, hospital administrators, researchers who come up with the drugs and devices used to save lives, and millions of others without whom health care would simply grind to a halt.

The health care system does a wonderful job of describing its great successes. For example, billboards advertising miracles in treating heart attacks and cancer are common sights.  The health care system doesn’t need any help promoting its benefits.

But that’s only half of the story. Killer Cure highlights the other half. Health care in the United States has massive shortcomings which can entirely cancel out the great benefits that it can deliver.

My intentions in writing Killer Cure are twofold. The first is to help you recognize and understand the gaps that put you at risk when you deal with the health care system. It is only with that knowledge that you have a chance to reduce your risk.

The second intention is to offer you a new perspective that can enable you to think very differently about your health, about your health care, and about how you interact with the health care system. My goal is to improve the odds that health care will increase rather than decrease your ability to lead the life you want.

Killer Cure will change forever how you think about your health and health care.  Leaving conventional wisdom in the dust, Killer Cure reveals startling and unforgettable insights.

• Why health care in America accidentally kills 12,000 people each week – even though every doctor and nurse you know is terrific
• Why the health care system’s hidden assumptions about you are almost certain to damage your health – and what you can do about it
• Why you might want to become CEO of your own health and health care – and how to go about it
• Why the health care system needs to embrace a new purpose – to enable people to lead the lives they want – in order to solve the health care crisis

Killer Cure is built around vivid and illuminating true stories, and closes with surprising predictions for the future.  The Readers’ Discussion Guide invites you to share your perspective with others.