When Medicine Goes Awry: Case Studies in Medically Caused Suffering and Death by Juanne Nancarrow Clarke

Examining high-profile case studies of medically caused suffering and death, When Medicine Goes Awry critiques the present functioning of the medical care system and the pharmaceutical industry.

Medical error is the third leading cause of death in hospitals, leading to disability, and in some cases, death. Despite its frequency, medical error has been largely invisible to the mainstream public. Within the medical system itself, medical error is often understood as the result of an isolated case of malpractice.

When Medicine Goes Awry argues that the causes of medical error are not an anomaly, and instead the outcome of a number of factors at play, ranging from political, to social, to economic. When Medicine Goes Awry argues that medical error is inevitable, and dismisses the common blame perspective associated with medical malpractice, instead asserting that medical error will continue to be inevitable given the relentless and expanding processes of medicalization. Shedding light on the ways these forces lead to medicine going awry, the book examines seven well known cases of medical error. Taking an in depth look at both patients and medical care providers, Juanne Nancarrow Clarke offers a novel approach to medical error or mishap that applies sociological research and theory to the larger societal forces contributing to a taxing and endemic medical problem.