Have you ever wondered why doctors want you to get straight to the point, can only cover one issue per appointment, or why they have to see a mountain of patients per day? This book describes the corporate takeover of healthcare, why it is so hard to have an independent practice, and the depth of despair physicians experience with not being able to give patients the care they would like to give. Excellent read!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC!

Although I have to admit, this book wasn't quite what I expected it to be from this title, I did think this book was well-written and well-researched, pulling in elements of public health and economics (in speaking about insurance and payouts), history, and storytelling. Certainly, this book read more like a nonfiction book than a memoir or stories about moral injury in individual patient encounters, which was a bit more what I was anticipating. If you enjoyed reading books about major scandals in medical history (think opioid epidemic), then this book is for you!

Reading this right after reading The Vagina Business and All in Her Head was admittedly a little disheartening. I lose hope more and more each day that there are enough good people out there to outweigh the bad ones.

That's no fault of Wendy Dean, though. This was a wonderful look at the internal struggles of healthcare workers. Providing us with possible solutions was a really positive addition too; I didn't want to be left hanging, disheartened.

{Thank you bunches to NetGalley, Wendy Dean, Simon Talbot, and publisher for the eARC in exchange for my honest opinion!}

Wendy Dean's "If I Betray These Words" critically examines the adverse effects of corporate medicine on both healthcare professionals and patients. The text articulates the concept of moral injury, defined as the psychological distress encountered by medical providers when they are unable to deliver the care they deem necessary for their patients due to systemic constraints. This moral injury is intensified by the profit-driven motives of healthcare corporations, resulting in significant distress within the workforce, where many healthcare workers experience feelings of entrapment and lack of support.

The corporatization of healthcare has effectively transformed physicians into components of a larger machine, thereby constraining their autonomy and diminishing their capacity to provide compassionate care. With practice increasingly dictated by time constraints and performance metrics, physicians often struggle to adequately address the emotional and medical needs of their patients. The authors further emphasize that these challenges have been exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic, which has illuminated the vulnerabilities inherent in the healthcare system and triggered a significant exodus of healthcare workers since 2020.

While Dean proposes several reforms aimed at improving the healthcare system—such as enhancing transparency and alleviating bureaucratic burdens—she ultimately contends that these reforms merely address superficial issues within a more profound problem rooted in capitalism. The narrative advocates for a fundamental restructuring of healthcare priorities, emphasizing the necessity of a system that genuinely prioritizes both patients and healthcare workers. Despite some shortcomings in presentation and focus, "If I Betray These Words" serves as a crucial resource for comprehending the challenges faced by healthcare professionals within a corporate-dominated medical landscape.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for the advance review copy in exchange for my honest review.

JOHNNY SILVER

Johnny Silver lives in St. Jude in the Caribbean. He’s retired from the mercenary life and runs a beach bar with his wife Anna. His former crew have all made new lives for themselves. Bull, a 6-foot-6 Jamaican, also lives on St. Jude. The others have dispersed to their homelands. Stan, the tactician, runs a hotel in his native Poland. Red, a half-Comanche, is on his Texas ranch. The team’s ladies’ man, Pieter, is on a wildlife preserve in South Africa working as a ranger and conducting safaris. But this band of brothers can never be apart for long, and when they reunite, chaos will ensue...