Getting What We Deserve: Health and Medical Care in America

Both an ophthalmologist and a public health expert at Johns Hopkins, Sommer can honestly claim to have affected millions of lives with his pioneering work in vitamin A deficiency and blindness prevention. In this small gem he gamely takes on America's health care crisis. “We have lost sight of the essentials” that underlie good health, he declares. Making ample use of graphs, tables and maps to illustrate his clear history, Sommer offers a commonsense approach to our dilemma. Want to understand the West's dramatic improvements in life expectancy? Consider simple, inexpensive improvements in standards of living and public health, such as sanitation and nutrition, that predated the explosion of drugs and medical interventions, he asserts. Will the “public option” impair our national health? Look no further than Canada and England, where it works—and where residents are just as long-lived and healthy. Sommer concludes that Americans' health will improve as they “adopt healthier lifestyles and as better, more cost-effective interventions are developed and made available to all.” His cry may get lost in the noisy national debate, but its clarity deserves to be heard. 31 line drawings. (Dec.)