On Medicine as Colonialism

by Michael Fine

In this strident, necessary, meticulously researched book Michael Fine uses the COVID-19 pandemic and many other examples to show the costly failure of the American health care system in bold relief. Hospitals, insurance companies, Big Pharma, specialists, and even primary care doctors have all become tools of the new health profiteers. On Medicine as Colonialism shows how the American health care system cannibalizes communities in the US and around the world. Focusing on how health care profiteers co-opt the state’s regulatory power, Medicare, and Medicaid to extract resources from communities, this book reveals how medicine and health care have become tools of a new health colonialism, turning medicine on its head, so that individuals and communities lose their agency, health becomes impossible, and profits are used to dismantle democracy itself.

Genres: Nonfiction, Health, Disability, Medicine

176 pages, Paperback

Published February 14, 2023

Reviews

[David · Rating 5 out of 5]

Immensely convincing, and I’m a nurse at a hospital, so it hit pretty damn close to home. What a horrible mess we are all in.

[Aidan Rogers · Rating 5 out of 5]

Outstanding

[max · Rating 4 out of 5]

Important, well-written, and convincing read. The personal anecdotes from the author’s time as the Director of Health in Rhode Island were especially interesting. But do read with a grain of salt - the dynamics involved are heavily simplified which is good for an introductory volume but doesn’t give you the full picture. Also would have benefitted from taking the extra step to name capitalism as a culprit. Still, I will definitely be thinking and talking about this for a long time.

[Nate · Rating 5 out of 5]

So modern health care is causing more harm than good, just like every other profit driven corporation. Awesome. Highly recommend this short read and use it to start some conversations.
This is just one quote of many I now have swimming in my brain, “Once upon a time, many people sought health care from a local family physician, who they knew and trusted… Now medicine is a for-profit enterprise. Many people sense that healthcare organizations have only profit as the motivation, and that there is no longer anyone there to truly know people and communities as people and communities and to advocate for them, their health, and their lives. I hope this book will help others understand how accurate that perception has become.” p130

[Adrian Shanker · Rating 5 out of 5]

In Medicine as Colonialism, Michael Fine — a former state health official and family physician — issued a clarion call for widespread changes in how healthcare is funded. He distinguishes between health “care” and health “sales” and questions the profit motives undergirding what he calls the health services marketplaces.

His is an urgent perspective and an important voice as we consider how we collectively ensure that care needs are met equitable today and into the future!

[Nikita · Rating 3 out of 5]

I think this book is a great starter for people who aren't very tapped into politics to understand what's wrong with healthcare in the US, or people who are on the political right to understand. Unfortunately, that's not really what I was looking for when I picked up the book, but I do have a few people in mind who might enjoy it!

[Maddywald · Rating 2 out of 5]

Pretty ass ngl. The intention was good but I think this was too daunting of a task for this author