An American Sickness: How Healthcare Became Big Business and How You Can Take It Back

Rosenthal closes the book with a theory from the book The Fate of Empires, which states that all “great societies [...] descend [into an age of decadence] before they fall for good” (328). This decadence is connected to people hoarding intense wealth and power, thus contributing to the decline of ideas of service or duty. America, being over 200 years old, is of the age where a historian might expect it to fall to this decadence.

The decline of charitable healthcare is partly to blame. Medical heroes such as Frederick Banting, the inventor of insulin treatments and Jonas Salk, who effectively halted the polio epidemic with his vaccine, famously wanted their cures to be accessible by all people. Doctors with this philosophy are partly responsible for medicine’s hallowed place within society. However, these sentiments are lost in the modern era. While it is understandable that advances in medical technology require more financial support, an insatiable market sent healthcare on a path of corruption and exploitation.

An American Sickness advocates for “a return to a system of affordable, evidence-based, patient centered care” (328). Every sector of the medical industry has contributed to the healthcare industry’s decline. Despite most healthcare professionals’ noble intentions behind entering the field, they must acknowledge the role they play in perpetuating this crisis.