Magazine content is available exclusively for TIME subscribers.Medicine: The Plight of the U.S. Patient
American medicine is the best in the world.
MOST Americans take this statement as an article of faith—so long as they are in good health. Even when they have a bout of illness they feel, for the most part, that they are getting excellent care. But growing numbers of patients, the consumers of American medicine, are asking questions that range from mildly nagging to openly angry.
When the doctor was first called, why did he refuse to make a house call? Did he take too long in making the right diagnosis? Did he prescribe too many drugs before...
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