Who is the American health system for? A new book, Health for Everyone, edited by primary-care physician and bioethicist Dr. Zackary Berger--calls for revolutionizing the system by putting patients at its center.
His Johns-Hopkins colleague, adolescent-and-child psychiatrist Hal Kronsberg, told of a young Baltimore man who stayed strong for his family when his mother was murdered, without processing guilt and grief. Better than treating the eventual depression, Kronsberg said, would have been to keep the trauma from happening.
Does it ask too much to expect doctors to solve social and political problems? Berger says no:
“If we’re stepping outside our lane it’s not like we’re giving up our magical powers, We don’t have magical powers, right? We need to figure out how best to work together and solve problems.”
Links: Dr. Zackary Berger in conversation with Cecilia Tomori at Red Emma’s bookstore, Wed. July 20 at 7pm. Health for Everyone.
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