Hope or hype: the obsession with medical advances and the high cost of false promises

I: Can There Be Too Much of a Good Thing? The Hazards of Uncritically Embracing New Medical Advances 1. Disillusioned Insiders: The Authors' Experiences 2. The Allure of the New: An American Love Affair 3. Red Herrings, Side Effects, and Superbugs: Why Isn't Always 4. Social Hazards: Why Things Don't Always Work as Planned Part II: How Things Work: Opinion Makers and Regulators 5. What Will You Swallow? How Drug Companies Get You to Buy Expensive Drugs ofDubious Value 6. Making Friends, Playing Monopoly, and Dirty Tricks: Other Drug Company Strategies 7. Stacking the Deck: How Industry Gets the Right Answer in Clinical Research 8. Hype and Horror: The Media's Role in Disseminating New Treatments 9. Doctors and the Health Industry: More Is Always Better 10. Politicians and Judges: Practicing Medicine Without a License? 11. Advocacy Groups: Mother Theresa's Waiting Room 12. Holes in the Safety Net: the FDA and the FTC Part III: Useless, Harmful, or Marginal: Popular Treatments That Caused Unnecessary Disability, Dollars, or Death 13. Ineffective or Inferior New Drugs 14. Medical Devices of Uncertain Value 15. Unnecessary or Excessive Surgery 16. Diet and Weight Loss Aids/ Lifestyle Treatments Part IV: Crossing the Threshold: Improving the Transition from Experimental to Standard Care 17. Evidence-based Medicine: A Surprisingly New Idea 18. Pay Now or Pay Later: Closer Collaboration Between Researchers and Payers 19. Getting Value for Money: An Issue We Can't Ignore 20. Reducing Snake Oil Sales: National Centers to Assess Efficacy, Safety, and CostEffectivess of New Treatments 21. Shared Decision Making: Empowering Patients and the Public