Book Description

"Jim Bailey's brilliant first novel narrates the journey of a young healer into the depths of a modern healthcare hell that parallels the path taken by Dante Alighieri through his "Inferno" 700 years ago. His young protagonist uncovers unsuspected corruption at the roots of the problems in American medicine and powerful business interests trading people's health for profit. "The End of Healing" is a must-read for anyone hungry for a spiritual context to help them understand the true forces at work in American healthcare and our path to a better future...." -PHYLLIS TICKLE, founding religion editor, "Publishers Weekly." ""The End of Healing" is a remarkable book. It'll make you sad and angry at the same time. Then you'll become afraid.... And that fear could save your life." -DON DONALDSON, author of "The Memory Thief." "THE END OF HEALING," A GRIPPING HISTORICAL NOVEL SET IN THE BEGINNING OF THE NEW MILLENNIUM, SHINES THE LIGHT OF TRUTH ON THE MEDICAL INDUSTRY. A looming menace lurks within the towers of American medicine. One young doctor is determined to uncover the truth. Enter the inferno with him on a journey you will never forget. Don Newman, a resident physician at the renowned University Hospital, awakens to the screams of his pager in a windowless call room in the middle of the night. He runs to the dark ward to attend to a dying woman strapped to a bed and realizes-despite working long and hard to become a doctor and having sworn to do no harm-harm has become his business. So begins Dr. Newman's quest to become a healer in a system that puts profits ahead of patients. He abandons his plans to become a cardiologist and enrolls in an Ivy League graduate program in health system science, where an unorthodox professor promises to guide him ever deeper into the dark secrets of the healthcare industry. Don joins fellow students-the alluring Frances Hunt, a sharp nurse practitioner, and Bruce Markum, a cocky, well-connected surgeon-on a journey through the medical underworld. When Dr. Newman unearths evidence of a conspiracy stretching from the halls of Congress to Wall Street and even to his small campus, his harmless course of study becomes deadly serious. Will he be silenced? Or will he find a way to save his patients and others from needless torture? Jim Bailey pulls back the exam room curtain to reveal a giant healthcare industry spiraling out of control. This literary tour de force resonates with core themes of classical literature, medical history, and science. "The End of Healing" brings Dante's "Inferno" to life for a new era and proves hell is alive and well in American healthcare today. This book will change your perspective on the U.S. medical system forever...and give you the insight you need to find real healing in today's world. Jim Bailey is a fellow in the American College of Physicians and professor of medicine and preventive medicine at the University of Tennessee Health Science Center in Memphis, where he directs the Center for Health Systems Improvement, cares for the sick, and teaches doctors in training. His research appears in peer-reviewed medical journals, including "JAMA," "Journal of General Internal Medicine," and "Annals of Internal Medicine." Dr. Bailey has an abiding passion for the classics, medical history, and ethics, and believes that sharing our stories can heal. This is his first novel. To share your story and learn how to take charge of your health, visit EndofHealing.com and TheHealthyCity.org.