Beyond Crisis

This plump, sometimes unwieldy collection is the product of the Health Policy Advisory Center (Health/PAC), which for more than 25 years has offered solid progressive criticism of what it terms the ``medical-industrial complex.'' Many of the nearly 60 essays collected here first appeared in the Health/PAC bulletin; while many are insightful, some are dated--like a book review that is the main entry on abortion and that predates the current legislative controversy on the subject--and others could use greater contextualization. Diligent readers, however, will find essays detailing a system gone wrong: the fate of underserved communities, such as the Mississippi Delta; the demise of Philadelphia General Hospital, a once prestigious public hospital; the effect of ``corporatization'' on doctoring; the way women's health centers primarily target the affluent. The last section includes analyses of precursors to President Clinton's health-care proposal; an essay about that plan was not available to PW. McKenzie, Health/PAC's executive director, edited The AIDS Reader. (Jan.)