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David Wootton

Bad Medicine: Doctors Doing Harm Since Hippocrates Paperback – Illustrated, 7 Dec. 2007

by David Wootton (Author)

4.2 85 ratings

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Just how much good has medicine done over the years? And how much damage does it continue to do? The history of medicine begins with Hippocrates in the fifth century BC. Yet until the invention of antibiotics in the 1930s doctors, in general, did their patients more harm than good. In this fascinating new look at the history of medicine, David Wootton argues that for more than 2300 years doctors have relied on their patients' misplaced faith in their ability to cure. Over and over again major discoveries which could save lives were met with professional resistance. And this is not just a phenomenon of the distant past. The first patient effectively treated with penicillin was in the 1880s; the second not until the 1940s. There was overwhelming evidence that smoking caused lung cancer in the 1950s; but it took thirty years for doctors to accept the claim that smoking was addictive. As Wootton graphically illustrates, throughout history and right up to the present, bad medical practice has often been deeply entrenched and stubbornly resistant to evidence. This is a bold and challenging book--and the first general history of medicine to acknowledge the frequency with which doctors do harm.

ISBN-10

0199212791
ISBN-13

978-0199212798
Edition

Illustrated
Publisher

Oxford University Press, USA
Publication date

7 Dec. 2007
Language

English
Dimensions

2.03 x 19.3 x 12.95 cm
Print length

336 pages
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Review

Aptly described as 'explosive' by the British Medical Journal, Bad Medicine is a four-chapter thriller written by accomplished British historian David Wootton ... Wootton's writing style serves as an excellent example to both historians and philosophers: short, concise, clear and engaging sentences which are structured around the period or argument presented ... Overall, Wootton majestically manages to apply historical objectivity to emotionally sensitive issues like death, dying and disease. ― Alex Benedyk , Economics and Philosophy Blog

This book is provocative and well written; it leaves you wanting to find out more. ― Sameer Rahim, Daily Telegraph

Bad Medicine is provocative and iconoclastic; essential reading for every GP. ― PD Smith, The Guardian

About the Author

David Wootton is Anniversary Professor of History at the University of York. He has published widely in early modern intellectual history, particularly on the history of political thought, and is a regular reviewer for the London Review of Books and the Times Literary Supplement.

Product details

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Oxford University Press, USA; Illustrated edition (7 Dec. 2007)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Paperback ‏ : ‎ 336 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0199212791
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0199212798
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 2.03 x 19.3 x 12.95 cm

Best Sellers Rank: 551,847 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- 742 in History of Medicine
- 1,389 in Linguistics References
- 1,696 in History of Science (Books)

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4.2 85 ratings

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David Wootton

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David Wootton is the author of Power, Pleasure, and Profit; of The Invention of Science; of Galileo: Watcher of the Skies; and of Bad Medicine: Doctors Doing Harm Since Hippocrates. You can learn more about him at www.davidwootton.com.

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JW

great book but misleading title

Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on 5 October 2017

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First i would like to lay down that this book gives a very good summery and a different understanding of the history of medicine. While this new aspect that approaches the topic oriented towards "bad medicine", after reading the book I didn't necessarily feel the issue for one can say it was bad. Maybe delayed, not understood, privileged, conventional, but not bad. Not to mention the great impact that the author puts on the placebo effect. It sounded any kind of medical treatment in the middle ages was a success thanks only to the placebo effect. It really bothered me after a few chapter. According to the title I expected some radically different book, one that rather discusses the wrongly chosen treatments, bloody painful details, and ideas that sound very weird by today knowledge.In this sense I felt rather cheated, the title is indeed misleading.

Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on 30 December 2020

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Doctors have been killing their patients for millennia. They might by now be close to redressing the balance. They will never attain the health benefits of clean water, good food and the other non medical developments of the last two centuries.
The author writes fluently and concludes with some examples of how doctors continue to get it wrong, even today.

Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on 21 March 2016

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Both well written, informative and entertaining.

I re-red it several times and I recommend it to anyone interested in the medicine, true stories and history.

Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on 29 July 2017

Fascintating book

Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on 5 February 2014

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interesting material but needed editing as he repeats himself a lot. Certainly makes you appreciate living in today's times as far as medicine goes.

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Guy Chapman

Kills 99% of all known appeals to tradition. Dead.

Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on 19 March 2016

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This is a really interesting book, and offers a new perspective on the fallacy of appeal to tradition that underpins so much quackery.

Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on 21 May 2017

excellent

Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on 5 November 2014

Verified Purchase

Very pleased with book, and quick delivery.

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