The Social Transformation of American Medicine
The Rise of a Sovereign Profession and the Making of a Vast Industry

Reading Paul Starr's summary here in a Sociology of Medicine undergraduate class in the early 80s I realized how we thoroughly screwed up American healthcare starting towards the turn of the 20th century when the rapidly scientising and professionalizing field of medicine ran smack dab in the middle......more

I was suspicious that this might be a historically-based political screed, since Paul Starr has been active in liberal political health care circles for years, and he was one of the major "economists" to sign on to a petition for Obama's health care bill (he's actually a sociologist but hell, they w......more

This was a really good book explaining many of the basics of how the medical industry became what it is today. A must-read for anyone looking to be well versed in social, political, and economic lenses of the modern health care industry.......more

A tremendous (and tremendously long) book detailing the social power of American doctors and the hijinks that led to the current bizarre amalgamation we call a healthcare system. It has somehow sustained itself despite being "unsustainable" and "in crisis" for decades. It is shocking how many times......more