Silence Kills

This compilation of life stories of people seeking treatment for illnesses accurately portrays the many aggravating factors that patients (and their families) face, along with their disease, as they encounter the U.S. health care system. The essays confirm the poor communication that often exists between health care providers themselves, providers and their patients, and representatives of agencies and payers. The book includes poignant descriptions of the effects of inadequate resources, lack of staff, multiple errors, and unsafe conditions within hospitals and other agencies that provide health care. – S. C. Grossman

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Devoted to the theme “Silence Kills: Speaking Out and Saving Lives,” this issue proves editor Lee Gutkind’s premise that “less literary” topics also lend themselves to artful writing as well as the detailed reporting associated with journalism. I agree wholeheartedly. In these essays, the authors recount their often frustrating—sometimes edifying—experiences with the health care system using a variety of narrative styles and tones, but all of a very high caliber. The authors treat such varied topics as blindness, overmedication, kidney dialysis, hepatitis, a gastrointestinal disorder; and all of the authors slip in enough medical information so that non-specialists can easily understand. Yet the overarching topic is communication—or lack thereof—and the implications this process has on the quality of patient care. – Jeanne M. Lesinski – See more at: http://www.creativenonfiction.org/reviews/140#sthash.4OAaMROg.dpuf