EP 35: Dialysis, DaVita, Fresenius and Corruption With Author Tom Mueller Part 1

PART 1

New York Times best-selling author, Tom Mueller PhD, joins Nurses Uncorked to discuss his book, How to Make a Killing:  Blood, Death, and Dollars in American Medicine. 

In the 1960s, dialysis in America was a miracle cure, on the cutting-edge of high-tech medicine. Dialysis represented the first time that doctors had replaced a vital organ with a machine. Dialysis became, in 1972, America’s first (and to date the only) “Medicare for All” condition, when Congress pledged to pay the dialysis treatments of virtually all Americans with kidney failure.

Since then, however, dialysis in America has degraded to 1-size-fits-all, assembly line care. Non-profit centers have been bought up by for-profit firms, eventually creating a duopoly between DaVita Dialysis and Fresenius . Harmful practices such as short, high-speed dialysis sessions (termed “bazooka dialysis” in the book), and the involuntary discharge and subsequent blackballing of dialysis patients, are widespread. Patient outcomes, mortality etc in the US are substantially worse than any other developed nation. Yet at the same time, cost of treatment has skyrocketed.

We dedicate these episodes (part 1 & 2) to those fighting chronic kidney disease; and to the brave dialysis patients, dialysis nurses, techs, and informants who continue to fight.

GIVEAWAY:

Enter to win one of five free copies of Tom's book by subscribing to our email liston

https://nursesuncorked.com

20% discount for Nurses Uncorked listeners: 

Code:  "killing20"  https://wwnorton.com/books/9780393866513



Books by Tom Mueller:

Extra Virginity: The Sublime and Scandalous World of Olive Oil https://a.co/d/izhYMGg

Crisis of Conscience: Whistleblowing in an Age of Fraud https://a.co/d/bOcyn1O

https://www.amazon.com/How-Make-Killi...

Connect with Tom Mueller:

https://www.tommueller.co/

tom@tommueller.co

Twitter/X:   @tommuellerX 

LinkedIn:  www.linkedin.com/in/tom-mueller-026a3635 

Facebook:    / tom.mueller.7796   
Instagram:  tbmuellerx



Sources:

https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama...

 https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama...

How to Make a Killing: Blood, Death and Dollars in American Medicine, Author Tom Mueller (Released August 1, 2023;  US Publisher: W. W. Norton)



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