MediScams : dangerous medical practices and health care frauds - and how to prevent them from harming you and your family

Where their health is concerned, Americans want answers. Too often, what they get are false promises from medical "professionals" more intent on lightening their patients' wallets than helping to shave off those stubborn five pounds. These medical scam artists run from the petty to the downright dangerous, and their schemes can leave you poorer but wiser, hospitalized, or much worse... Now journalist Chuck Whitlock tackles the seedy world of medical scams, exposing everything from bogus pills that claim to relieve symptoms of drunkenness, to questionable weight-loss programs, to bizarre plastic surgery procedures. Called "the nation's leading scambuster" by Oprah Winfrey, Chuck Whitlock tackles treacherous HMOs, doctors, and charlatans. Then he shows the reader how to avoid falling victim to medical scams. How to spot and avoid healthcare scams, medical frauds, and quackery, from the local physician to the major healthcare providers and drug manufacturers Phony cancer treatments, HMO incompetence and greed, useless diet creams, worthless "vitamin" pills, and life-endangering "cures" . . . don't get mad, get informed! A crusading, award-winning investigative reporter for television newsmagazines Extra, Hard Copy, and Inside Edition, Chuck Whitlock leads you into the underworld of MediScams. Here, medical chicanery, good intentions gone bad, and unrepentant greed combine to consume America's healthcare dollars by the billions. Are you in need? The MediScam artists are there with false promises of therapies, cures, and treatments. "Provocative, disturbing, and refreshingly not sensationalist, this book offers a hard look inside the world of health care and offers specific tips that readers can use to safeguard their health." - Publishers Weekly A shocking and unnerving work, MediScams blows the whistle on healthcare "professionals" hawking "scientifically proven" treatments that turn out to be fradulent. Whitlock reveals the dirty secrets of health maintenance organizations and pharmaceutical houses. His expos of the mistreatment of patients and of Medicaid and Medicare fraud has shed light on the seedy underside of nursing home operations. Whitlock is relentless in his pursuit of those who abuse the public trust. And he isn't afraid of pointing out the serious malpractice that goes on even in the offices of "respectable" physicians. In MediScams, Whitlock gets in the face - supplement manufacturers who cite only selective testing labs and portions of legitimate research to back up their fraudulent claims - bogus plastic surgeons-particularly the enormous number who operate without licenses or medical degrees - the research charlatans who recklessly dispense compounds, powders, pills, and placebos - the carnies and hucksters who live off dental MediScams and nursing home rip-offs - fraudulent doctors-yours may be one of them MediScams will scare you, but more importantly, it will make you want to take action. It will show you how easily you may be taken in by those who seem to care. All true and all documented, this book is thoroughly annotated, citing the arrests and convictions of the small percentage of those who get caught. An appendix provides a comprehensive resource list of private, professional, and government agencies that offer information and consumer guidance, along with agencies that help victims of fraud. Every Patient's Nightmare : Meet The Man Called America's Worst Doctor--john Ronald Butcher Brown -- A Brief History Of Mediscams : From Snake Oil To Cancer Quackery -- Managed Care--the Biggest Mediscam Of All? : Putting A Price On Human Lives -- Dangerous Doctors : Physicians Are Supposed To Police Each Other--why Don't They Do A Better Job Of It? -- When M.d. Means Money Doctor : Don't Let Your Doctor Rip You Off -- Lying With Science : Just Because They Tell You It's Scientifically Proven Doesn't Mean It Is -- Marketing Mediscams : Fraud As A Multimedia Event -- What On Earth? : Turning The Planet Into Scam Cures -- Plastic Surgery--the Mediscammers' Newest Target : The Price Of Vanity Can Be Crippling--or Worse -- Potent Or Placebo? : Will The Real Cures Please Stand Up? -- Nursing Homes-- Or Warehouses For The Elderly? : Surely Our Parents Deserve Better Than This -- Shopping For Supplements : Buying A Pig In A Poke -- Dental Mediscams : Taking A Bite Out Of Your Wallet -- Spotting The Mediscams : The Telltale Tip-offs And Profiles Of Medical Quacks And Their Victims. Chuck Whitlock. Includes Bibliographical References (p. 287-303). Every patient's nightmare : meet the man called "America's worst doctor" John Ronald "Butcher" Brown A brief history of MediScams : from snake oil to cancer quackery Managed care the biggest MediScam of all? : putting a price on human lives Dangerous doctors : physicians are supposed to police each other why don't they do a better job of it? When "M.D." means "Money Doctor" : don't let your doctor rip you off Lying with science : just because they tell you it's "scientifically proven" doesn't mean it is Marketing MediScams : fraud as a multimedia event What on earth? : turning the planet into scam cures Plastic surgery the MediScammers' newest target : the price of vanity can be crippling or worse Potent or placebo? : will the real cures please stand up? Nursing homes or warehouses for the elderly? : surely our parents deserve better than this Shopping for supplements : buying a pig in a poke Dental MediScams : taking a bite out of your wallet Spotting the MediScams : the telltale tip-offs and profiles of medical quacks and their victims.

Where their health is concerned, Americans want answers. Too often, what they get are false promises from medical "professionals" more intent on lightening their patients' wallets than helping to shave off those stubborn five pounds. These medical scam artists run from the petty to the downright dangerous, and their schemes can leave you poorer but wiser, hospitalized, or much worse...

Now journalist Chuck Whitlock tackles the seedy world of medical scams, exposing everything from bogus pills that claim to relieve symptoms of drunkenness, to questionable weight-loss programs, to bizarre plastic surgery procedures.

Called "the nation's leading scambuster" by Oprah Winfrey, Chuck Whitlock tackles treacherous HMOs, doctors, and charlatans. Then he shows the reader how to avoid falling victim to medical scams.

Investigative reporter Chuck Whitlock explores the underworld of medical fraud, where medical chicanery, good intentions gone bad, and greed combine to rob American consumers by billions of dollars. He tells how to spot the tell-tale signs of a "mediscam", take control of your health care, and ensure that the medical services you receive are necessary and legitimate An investigative reporter and consumer advocate provides an inside look at the world of medical scams in which medical quackery, malpractice, and intentional greed have ripped off billions of dollars in American health-care funds, discussing the dark secrets of HMOs, pharmaceutical ripoffs, Medicaid and Medicare fraud, and more. 30,000 first printing. An investigative reporter and consumer advocate provides an inside look at the world of medical scams in which medical quackery, malpractice, and intentional greed have ripped off billions of dollars in American health-care funds, discussing the dark secrets of HMOs, pharmaceutical ripoffs, Medicaid and Medicare fraud, and more. Reprint. JOHN RONALD BROWN LOOKED more like a grandfatherly college professor than what he really was: a former surgeon who was so reckless, unethical, and grossly incompetent that he is now in prison for murder.