{"product_id":"sick-and-systemic-arthur-lazarus-9798190041101","title":"Sick and Systemic: Absurd Scenes from a Medical System That Works-Just Not for You (Volume 8)","description":"\u003cb\u003eThe system is still working. That is the problem.\u003c\/b\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eIn the eighth and final volume of \u003ci\u003eSick and Systemic\u003c\/i\u003e, modern medicine once again demonstrates its extraordinary ability to turn obvious problems into strategic initiatives-and strategic initiatives into larger problems. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eEvery member of a clinic's care team is called \"Doctor,\" leaving patients to guess who is qualified to treat what. Artificial intelligence applies for a medical license, while its developers claim accountability is proprietary. In the under-doctored Bay Area, patients attend an open house to compete for a primary care physician who is technically accepting new patients. A national task force fights overprescribing by making necessary treatment harder to obtain. Hospital executives use a dying patient's fear as leverage in a fight with his insurer rather than providing the honest, compassionate care he deserves. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eElsewhere, a medical student learns that due process is available only after completing a reflection assignment. An insurer claims that physicians who ask to be paid fairly threaten market stability. A surgeon discovers that a signed consent form does not mean whatever he wants it to mean. And deep inside the Department of Inboxology, clinicians confront refill emergencies, blurry photographs, dropdown-menu hazards, and the collective anxiety of several thousand portal users. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eFinally, a physician prepares to leave traditional primary care, while a patient waits months to enter it. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eThese stories are fictional. The incentives, euphemisms, power imbalances, and administrative logic that underlie them are not. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eDarkly funny, sharply observed, and uncomfortably plausible, \u003ci\u003eSick and Systemic, Volume 8\u003c\/i\u003e examines what happens when clarity becomes controversial, access becomes a product, consent becomes flexible, technology outpaces accountability, and essential clinical work is rebranded as efficiency. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eFor physicians, patients, nurses, trainees, healthcare leaders, policymakers, and anyone who has ever been assured that the system is working exactly as intended. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eIt is. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cb\u003eJust not for you.\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAuthor:\u003c\/b\u003e Arthur Lazarus\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-13:\u003c\/b\u003e 9798190041101\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublisher:\u003c\/b\u003e Independently Published\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eLanguage:\u003c\/b\u003e English\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublished:\u003c\/b\u003e 07\/31\/2026\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePages:\u003c\/b\u003e 268\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eFormat:\u003c\/b\u003e Paperback\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eWeight:\u003c\/b\u003e 0.80lbs\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eSize:\u003c\/b\u003e 9.00h x 6.00w x 0.56d","brand":"Arthur Lazarus","offers":[{"title":"Paperback","offer_id":50666036691199,"sku":"9798190041101","price":14.95,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0662\/2982\/9887\/files\/img_6a7d6b24-255d-4964-ab52-5537064d3556.jpg?v=1792015247","url":"https:\/\/www.whiterainbookhouse.com\/products\/sick-and-systemic-arthur-lazarus-9798190041101","provider":"WR Book House","version":"1.0","type":"link"}