The practice of medicine has always been shrouded in a cloak of mystery. In the past, doctors were rarely questioned because of their vast knowledge of that enigmatic entity, the human body. But medicine has evolved into a business where wealth and power sometimes supersede ethics. Because of changing times, the patient is at risk. The smarter patient starts by learning about the body in general and then focusing on his particular health problem. Eventually, the smarter patient will learn how to question his doctor and take an active, even aggressive, approach to his own care. Every day the potential exists for hundreds of deadly medical mistakes to occur in diagnosis and treatment. You can prevent them by taking action now. You must be the smarter patient.

About the Author

A graduate of the University of Montreal, Doctor Lucien Joubert is both a physician and a clinical pharmacologist who has seen too many close calls, even tragedies. A member of the American College of Clinical Pharmacology and the American Society for Clinical Pharmacology and Therapeutics, he currently lives in New Jersey.