American Medicine

The American health-care system is failing us. It is a frustratingly complex, opaque, and unaffordable system that results in suboptimal care and a deterioration of the welfare of the majority of American families. The experience of the past few decades and the recent ravaging pandemic has shown us that doing more of the same is not going to deliver us from this dilemma. But there is hope. There is a way to create a more accessible, consumer-friendly, safer, and affordable system of care for all of us.

Heroines of Mercy Street tells the true stories of the nurses at Mansion House, the Alexandria, Virginia, mansion turned wartime hospital and setting for the new PBS drama Mercy Street. Among the Union soldiers, doctors, wounded men from both sides, freed slaves, politicians, speculators, and spies who passed through the hospital in the crossroads of the Civil War were nurses who gave their time freely and willingly to save lives and aid the wounded.

Americans are in the midst of a world-historic drug binge. Opiates, amphetamines, benzodiazepines, marijuana, antidepressants, antipsychotics—across the board, consumption has shot up in the twenty-first century. At the same time, the United States is home to the largest prison system in the world, justified in part by a now zombified "war" on drugs. How did we get here?

Invalid teenager Leroy Wiley Gresham left a seven-volume diary spanning the years of secession and the Civil War. He was just 12 when he began, and he died at 17, just weeks after the war ended. LeRoy’s diary offers an inside look at a fateful journey that robbed an energetic and likeable young man of his youth and life. I Am Perhaps Dying adds considerably to the medical literature by increasing our understanding of how tuberculosis attacked a young body over time, how it was treated in the middle 19th century, and the effectiveness of those treatments.

Manifest Love contains 250 affirmations to help radically transform your most important relationships, which are addressed in five parts: self, family, friends, dating, and partner. Each affirmation was carefully crafted to evoke the wisdom of an ancestral proverb, with subtle references to icons and hallmarks of Black culture throughout, along with acknowledgment of the generational traumas that so many of us carry.

Immerse yourself in the soothing embrace of nature—gentle ocean waves, soft rain, rustling forests, flowing streams, and the calming melodies of birdsong. Paired with the scientifically recognized benefits of 432Hz music, these carefully crafted soundscapes promote relaxation, lower blood pressure, and guide your breathing into a natural, restful rhythm. Developed by the American Sound Healing Institute (est. 1992), these soundscapes work on multiple levels to ease tension, reduce stress, and bring your nervous system into a state of deep calm.

Unequal access to care. Misdiagnosis. Mistreatment. Medical gaslighting. An increasing number of studies show the profound impacts racism has on communities of color—particularly Black Americans. But these disparities in health care and wellbeing are not the result of a handful of uninformed or malicious doctors: racism in the medical system is institutional, woven into the very fabric of diagnostic criteria and even hospital infrastructure. Medicine denies fair treatment to Black patients not in error…but by design.

Nursing Supervisor Tyma Bowell could be ruthless when it came to her staff. She terrorized nurses and doctors alike. She was single-handedly running off most of the nursing staff. She could easily be called a B**ch! But, the hospital where she worked couldn’t afford to fire her… So, what’s the cure for this behavior? Discipline…Good ole fashion discipline… And, she’s about to get it! This book is intented for mature readers. It does contain spanking, and graphic sex scenes and language. If this type of material offends you, please don't purchase.

A doctor who has it all. A marriage in jeopardy. One false step could cost her everything. Haunted by a professional embarrassment from her past, Dr. Makayla Jackson pursues success at work with a single-minded focus. From the outside, she has it all: a successful Boston medical practice, a loving husband, and a sweet daughter who packs a punch in her Little Dragon martial arts class. Makayla juggles many roles—healer, mother, breadwinner, wife—and her marriage is starting to feel the strain. Unexpected changes at work upset the delicate balance, and everything comes crashing down. ...

Her name was Henrietta Lacks, but scientists know her as HeLa. Born a poor black tobacco farmer, her cancer cells – taken without her knowledge – became a multimillion-dollar industry and one of the most important tools in medicine. Yet Henrietta’s family did not learn of her ‘immortality’ until more than twenty years after her death, with devastating consequences . . .

Genius Mercy Diamond was born an only child, longing for a sibling. Her parents were cruel—her father, a medical doctor, had affairs, while her mother, a former prostitute, was uninspired and lonely until the birth of baby Roxy, who became Mercy's world. However, when 5-year-old Roxy tragically perished in a house fire, Mercy's grief and need for justice drove her to excel in medical school. Mercy, fueled by the loss of her beloved sister, subsequently became a terror on the medical scene. With that, she used her Ivy-league medical training to create a fierce robotic tribute to Roxy. ...

This American medical ecological and economic history, a saga of Man, Money, and Medicine or “textbook” of sorts, blossomed primarily for the benefit of Dr. DiLibero's many dear students. He has taught and lectured on the subject of migratory medical ecolo-nomics for many years, and has too often found himself digressing “off on a tangent”, describing particularly interesting moments of historical trivia that have influenced his life.

In Dying to Save You, Dr. William Queale takes you behind the scenes of our sickcare system. He uses deeply personal stories to explain how we got here and how systems thinking can get us out. But Dying to Save You isn’t just about medicine, science, and healthcare policy. This book is about you—and how you can stay out of the sickcare system altogether.

Do you want to feel explicitly happy, empowered, confident, and ready to make your mark in the world? Well, 101 Inspirational Affirmations for Black Women is one tool you can use to achieve this and more. Many BIPOC experience racism and sexism. The aim of 101 Inspirational Affirmations for Black Women is to provide a resource to overcome spiritual and emotional hurt caused by oppression and discrimination while promoting a positive mindset and enhanced well-being.

In Unsustainable, Dr. Christopher Voss—a physician with expertise in anesthesiology, critical care, pain medicine, and lifestyle medicine—offers a compelling, well-researched examination of how capitalism has shaped modern healthcare, often rewarding continuous treatment over definitive cures.

Habitual drug use in the United States is at least as old as the nation itself. Habit Forming traces the history of unregulated drug use and dependency before 1914, when the Harrison Narcotic Tax Act limited sales of opiates and cocaine under US law. Many Americans used opiates and other drugs medically and became addicted. Some tried Hasheesh Candy, injected morphine, or visited opium dens, but neither use nor addiction was linked to crime, due to the dearth of restrictive laws. After the Civil War, American presses published extensively about domestic addiction.

Bart Stupak, a nine-term Democratic Congressman from Michigan’s First Congressional District, brought two unshakable principles with him to Capitol Hill in 1992: a firm belief in the sanctity of life, and the conviction that health care was a right for all Americans and not a privilege for the fortunate few. Studies indicating that 45,000 Americans died needlessly every year for lack of access to health care inspired Congressman Stupak’s tireless efforts, often at great personal cost, to pass lifesaving legislation while remaining true to his right-to-life principles.

Harry Fisher’s critical view of mRNA injuries gained widespread attention when he posted a viral video recounting a chilling experience: “I’m a paramedic who performed CPR in a Pfizer line. During CPR, a nurse remarked, ‘This is the second one in two weeks.’” This video attracted millions of views and a flood of comments from individuals sharing their own losses and injuries following mRNA vaccinations. Despite its popularity, the video and the testimonies were swiftly removed by TikTok under the claim of “terroristic activity.” Harry’s determination to share factual ...

Physicians enter their professions with the highest of hopes and ideals for compassionate and efficient patient care. Along the way, however, recurring problems arise in their interactions with some patients that lead physicians to label them as "difficult." Some studies indicate that physicians identify 15 percent or more of their patients as "difficult." The negative feelings that physicians have toward these patients may lead to frustration, cynicism, and burnout.

Rabies enjoys a fearsome and lurid reputation. Throughout the decades of spiraling growth that defined New York City from the 1840s to the 1910s, the bone-chilling cry of "Mad dog!" possessed the power to upend the ordinary routines and rhythms of urban life. In Mad Dogs and Other New Yorkers, Jessica Wang examines the history of this rare but dreaded affliction during a time of rapid urbanization.