Stabbed in the Back - by Nortin M Hadler (Paperback)

About the Book

Book Synopsis

Nortin M. Hadler knows backaches. For more than three decades as a physician and medical researcher, he has studied the experience of low back pain in people who are otherwise healthy. Hadler terms the low back pain that everyone suffers at one time or another "regional back pain." In this book, he addresses the history and treatment of the ailment with the healthy skepticism that has become his trademark, taking the "Hadlerian" approach to backaches and the backache treatment industry in order to separate the helpful from the hype.

Basing his critique on an analysis of the most current medical literature as well as his clinical experience, Hadler argues that regional back pain is overly medicalized by doctors, surgeons, and alternative therapists who purvey various treatment regimens. Furthermore, he observes, the design of workers' compensation, disability insurance, and other "health" schemes actually thwarts getting well. For the past half century, says Hadler, back pain and back pain-related disability have exacted a huge toll, in terms of pain, suffering, and financial cost. Stabbed in the Back addresses this issue at multiple levels: as a human predicament, a profound social problem, a medical question, and a vexing public policy challenge. Ultimately, Hadler's insights illustrate how the state of the science can and should inform the art and practice of medicine as well as public policy. Stabbed in the Back will arm any reader with the insights necessary to make informed decisions when confronting the next episode of low back pain.

Review Quotes

"Stabbed in the Back is a major work of scholarship in an area relevant to every member of society. Nortin Hadler is one of the greatest contributors to this field, not only in the modern era but in the history of medicine. And this book represents the essence of his contributions to the field." -- Mark Schoene, editor, The BackLetter

"A bitter pill--but one that should trigger a much needed debate among healthcare reformers." -- Publishers Weekly

"In clear and compelling language, Nortin Hadler explains the dilemma of back pain and all the ways that patients can be misled. This book is a must read for those suffering as well as for the rest of our society, so we can better remedy ailments with fewer drugs, fewer surgeries, and greater wisdom." -- Jerome Groopman, M.D., Recanati Professor, Harvard Medical School, author of How Doctors Think

"In this thought-provoking book, Hadler analyzes the evidentiary basis of the diagnosis and treatment of back pain with a fresh, no-nonsense razor." -- #Journal of the American Medical Association

"Relentlessly probes the effectiveness of common medical treatments and finds them wanting. . . . [A] compelling book." -- Library Journal

"The next step [in health care reform] is the one Hadler is already confronting: how to really bring down costs as we move forward." -- Progressive Pulse

"The volume is well organized, giving a good historical and clinical overview of back pain and of what Hadler terms 'the backache industry.'" -- CHOICE

About the Author

Nortin M. Hadler, M.D., M.A.C.P., M.A.C.R., F.A.C.O.E.M., is professor emeritus of medicine and microbiology/immunology at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and attending rheumatologist at UNC Hospitals. His most recent book is By the Bedside of the Patient: Lessons for the Twenty-First-Century Physician (UNC Press).