What do you think?
Rate this book
The Anatomy of Deception: Conspiracy Theories, Distrust, and Public Health in America
Veteran health writer Sara Gorman compellingly argues that the backbone of medical conspiracy theories is not misinformation but lack of trust--in our hospitals and in our democracy writ large.
In the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic, trust in the healthcare system seems to be at an all-time low. Conspiracy theories are now mainstream, and distrust of government health agencies is common among private citizens. Yet many of those same individuals still profess trust in their doctors. What, then, is driving the general mistrust in medicine, and how can the public's faith be restored?
The Anatomy of Deception investigates the cause behind this seeming uptick in distrust by tracing the unexpected connection between medical mistrust and the move toward far right ideology in the United States. Drawing on personal qualitative research and interviews, health writer and expert Sara Gorman challenges traditional concepts of medical mistrust and argues that the loss of institutional trust in American health care signals a larger breakdown in democracy as a whole. In six short chapters, Gorman advances the idea of medical mistrust not as a byproduct of personal or historical abuses but as a direct result of bias, miscommunication, and lack of access that has slowly eroded trust in the public health system over time. She argues that we can build back trust in medicine through investments in health equity as a first step towards healing the schisms present in modern American society.
Wide-ranging yet incisive, The Anatomy of Deception uncovers the root of medical mistrust in America and how we can regain trust in the systems and values central to our democracy.
In the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic, trust in the healthcare system seems to be at an all-time low. Conspiracy theories are now mainstream, and distrust of government health agencies is common among private citizens. Yet many of those same individuals still profess trust in their doctors. What, then, is driving the general mistrust in medicine, and how can the public's faith be restored?
The Anatomy of Deception investigates the cause behind this seeming uptick in distrust by tracing the unexpected connection between medical mistrust and the move toward far right ideology in the United States. Drawing on personal qualitative research and interviews, health writer and expert Sara Gorman challenges traditional concepts of medical mistrust and argues that the loss of institutional trust in American health care signals a larger breakdown in democracy as a whole. In six short chapters, Gorman advances the idea of medical mistrust not as a byproduct of personal or historical abuses but as a direct result of bias, miscommunication, and lack of access that has slowly eroded trust in the public health system over time. She argues that we can build back trust in medicine through investments in health equity as a first step towards healing the schisms present in modern American society.
Wide-ranging yet incisive, The Anatomy of Deception uncovers the root of medical mistrust in America and how we can regain trust in the systems and values central to our democracy.
- GenresMedicineNonfiction
256 pages, Hardcover
First published September 3, 2024
9 people are currently reading
115 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
January 20, 2026
While this is undeniably a solid literature review, I truly wish that Dr. Gorman had been more concrete with both her examples of her interviews and with suggestions for how to stop mistrust in the US healthcare system in its tracks.
As a current medical student, I was hoping for a combination of logos and pathos to better understand the intricacies of the mind when reasoning with conspiracy theories and mistrust, but perhaps that is wishful thinking on my part because so many people are unable to support such theories when challenged. However, it would have been immensely beneficial for me to see even a bit of the many interviews that Dr. Gorman conducted, even if in an appendix. Only on page 209/216 does she really bring up more than a sentence of the content of her interviews, which I believe could have complemented the literature reviews with lived human examples throughout the book.
Additionally, perhaps I am too disenchanted by the consequences of the 2024 election that occurred only after the publication of this book to put any credence into any value in pressuring the government to improve health communication and provide correct information. SHOULD a government do this? Absolutely. Do I believe that the current government can do this? Maybe I’m just another one of the subjects that the author could have interviewed. I have absolutely no faith that the current administration can improve good-faith trust in the healthcare system without fabricating information or suppressing facts. It is hard to give such a recommendation when there is no current control over what the government shares as facts. I would like to see Dr. Gorman’s updated statement on her recommendations for how to combat such mistrust given the current situation, although I truthfully cannot blame her for at least trying to be optimistic before the results of the election came to fruition.
Let me be clear: I do not disagree with Dr. Gorman and I respect her work immensely. I am mostly curious to see how she may like to change tactics given the developments of the past year and a half since this was published.
As a current medical student, I was hoping for a combination of logos and pathos to better understand the intricacies of the mind when reasoning with conspiracy theories and mistrust, but perhaps that is wishful thinking on my part because so many people are unable to support such theories when challenged. However, it would have been immensely beneficial for me to see even a bit of the many interviews that Dr. Gorman conducted, even if in an appendix. Only on page 209/216 does she really bring up more than a sentence of the content of her interviews, which I believe could have complemented the literature reviews with lived human examples throughout the book.
Additionally, perhaps I am too disenchanted by the consequences of the 2024 election that occurred only after the publication of this book to put any credence into any value in pressuring the government to improve health communication and provide correct information. SHOULD a government do this? Absolutely. Do I believe that the current government can do this? Maybe I’m just another one of the subjects that the author could have interviewed. I have absolutely no faith that the current administration can improve good-faith trust in the healthcare system without fabricating information or suppressing facts. It is hard to give such a recommendation when there is no current control over what the government shares as facts. I would like to see Dr. Gorman’s updated statement on her recommendations for how to combat such mistrust given the current situation, although I truthfully cannot blame her for at least trying to be optimistic before the results of the election came to fruition.
Let me be clear: I do not disagree with Dr. Gorman and I respect her work immensely. I am mostly curious to see how she may like to change tactics given the developments of the past year and a half since this was published.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
January 5, 2026
The public is stupid and people want to bring up the syphilis experiment and pretend they're something special because they know about it. Well guess what- EVERYONE knows about it.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews