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Cook County ICU: 30 Years of Unforgettable Patients and Odd Cases
An inside look at one of the nation's most famous public hospitals, Cook County, as seen through the eyes of its longtime Director of Intensive Care, Dr. Cory Franklin.
Filled with stories of strange medical cases and unforgettable patients culled from a thirty-year career in medicine, Cook County ICU offers readers a peek into the inner workings of a hospital. Author Dr. Cory Franklin, who headed the hospital’s intensive care unit from the 1970s through the 1990s, shares his most unique and bizarre experiences, including the deadly Chicago heat wave of 1995, treating some of the first AIDS patients in the country before the disease was diagnosed, the nurse with rare Munchausen syndrome, the first surviving ricin victim, and the famous professor whose Parkinson’s disease hid the effects of the wrong medication. Surprising, darkly humorous, heartwarming, and sometimes tragic, these stories provide a big-picture look at how the practice of medicine has changed over the years, making it an enjoyable read for patients, doctors, and anyone with an interest in medicine.
Filled with stories of strange medical cases and unforgettable patients culled from a thirty-year career in medicine, Cook County ICU offers readers a peek into the inner workings of a hospital. Author Dr. Cory Franklin, who headed the hospital’s intensive care unit from the 1970s through the 1990s, shares his most unique and bizarre experiences, including the deadly Chicago heat wave of 1995, treating some of the first AIDS patients in the country before the disease was diagnosed, the nurse with rare Munchausen syndrome, the first surviving ricin victim, and the famous professor whose Parkinson’s disease hid the effects of the wrong medication. Surprising, darkly humorous, heartwarming, and sometimes tragic, these stories provide a big-picture look at how the practice of medicine has changed over the years, making it an enjoyable read for patients, doctors, and anyone with an interest in medicine.
240 pages, Paperback
First published September 1, 2015
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 591 reviews
October 13, 2021
Review Of all the medical memoirs I have read recently, this is by far the most all-encompassing as far subjects covered. The book has 25 chapters covering everything from the different, dangerous effects of extreme cold and extreme heat (a body temperature of 110F), to racism, arrogance among medical professionals (especially surgeons) and the lack of personal involvement in favour of tech-based medicine. He says that medicne is now a big business and entered into as such by medical students and not necessarily with the traditional desire to help people. He also discusses famous people he has a crush on - Princess Diana and 'the King' Elvis Presley and not from a medical point of view and many more subjects.
The occasional uneveness of interest is more than made up for by the breadth of topic. The author has no filter between his mind and his pen and all sorts of things pop out, often against himself. Luckily along with mortification, the author has a sense of humour.
Something that really interesting was patient confidentiality, which the author says was always a given between doctor and patient but is now a contract and covered by the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA). The author says he has seen clergy, "denied the room number of a supplicant patient on HIPAA grounds". He says they are prevented from offering solace because of confidentiality.
Excellent book, the writer is occasionally a bit quirky and often quite personal which adds to the enjoyment as by the end of the book I felt I knew Cory Franklin quite well. A definite all-gold 5 star read.
____________________
Notes on reading This has started off rather oddly, and very callously. A terminally ill patient died just after being admitted to hospital, and still with an oxygen mask and intravenous line in the author was called over to pronounce him dead. Before he could an ECG technician came over to do an electrocardiagram, which of course flatlined but the technician didn't seem to think this was a problem because the body was still warm and left the printout on the desk next to the patient.
Then came a 'pompous preening' resident and the author told his students, 'Let's see what happens' and told the resident he thought the man was pale and maybe having a heart attack and asked him to check the printout. The resident didn't look at the patient, only the printout, saw a flat line and berated the technician for not having a working machine. The technician said he'd done two more and they were fine. So the resident told the technician to do another one. Another flat line. He called the Code.
At that point the author says that the students were laughing and the author says to the resident maybe he should check if he is still breathing. At that the resident realised that the paient had been dead for several minutes, he swore and walked off. "I didn't hear the imprecation because my students who never got much of a chance to make fun of a resident, were by now laughing out loud'. He then calls it a little trick!
I think that is absolutely appalling. A man had just died and he is being used to play tricks on technician and residents and for the amusement of medical students. Where is the dignity in that? If that had been my grandma and I had found that out, I would have been really upset. And angry.
But as it turns out he is mostly very compassionate. But still.
The occasional uneveness of interest is more than made up for by the breadth of topic. The author has no filter between his mind and his pen and all sorts of things pop out, often against himself. Luckily along with mortification, the author has a sense of humour.
Something that really interesting was patient confidentiality, which the author says was always a given between doctor and patient but is now a contract and covered by the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA). The author says he has seen clergy, "denied the room number of a supplicant patient on HIPAA grounds". He says they are prevented from offering solace because of confidentiality.
From the doctors� perspective, the minions of enforcement have used the law more as a sword than a shield. Doctors sometimes find it harder to obtain necessary clinical information, while that same information is readily accessible to insurance companies and the government.GPs are using Covid as an excuse to further distance themselves from their patients consigning them to online consultations and the over-loading of ERs because the patient feels they have not been diagnosed and treated correctly, and they feel the need to actually be seen and possbly have the affected parts examined by a real life doctor.
Combined with the advent of electronic medical records, hackers and miscreants could easily appropriate thousands of confidential records in a few minutes. And they have; the number of hacked medical records is in the millions. And that’s just those that have been documented. This would have been unheard of forty years ago.
How has the confidential relationship between doctor and patient been served by all of this? Unfortunately, confidentiality is no longer in the hands of the physician. It has become the province of countless others putting themselves between the doctor and patient, and is now couched in forms written in legal language. It is now a contractual, rather than a covenental entity. And that is what has happened to the other aspects of the relationship between the doctor and the patient as well.
Excellent book, the writer is occasionally a bit quirky and often quite personal which adds to the enjoyment as by the end of the book I felt I knew Cory Franklin quite well. A definite all-gold 5 star read.
____________________
Notes on reading This has started off rather oddly, and very callously. A terminally ill patient died just after being admitted to hospital, and still with an oxygen mask and intravenous line in the author was called over to pronounce him dead. Before he could an ECG technician came over to do an electrocardiagram, which of course flatlined but the technician didn't seem to think this was a problem because the body was still warm and left the printout on the desk next to the patient.
Then came a 'pompous preening' resident and the author told his students, 'Let's see what happens' and told the resident he thought the man was pale and maybe having a heart attack and asked him to check the printout. The resident didn't look at the patient, only the printout, saw a flat line and berated the technician for not having a working machine. The technician said he'd done two more and they were fine. So the resident told the technician to do another one. Another flat line. He called the Code.
At that point the author says that the students were laughing and the author says to the resident maybe he should check if he is still breathing. At that the resident realised that the paient had been dead for several minutes, he swore and walked off. "I didn't hear the imprecation because my students who never got much of a chance to make fun of a resident, were by now laughing out loud'. He then calls it a little trick!
I think that is absolutely appalling. A man had just died and he is being used to play tricks on technician and residents and for the amusement of medical students. Where is the dignity in that? If that had been my grandma and I had found that out, I would have been really upset. And angry.
But as it turns out he is mostly very compassionate. But still.
December 28, 2019
So... Dr. Franklin straight up admitted to doing unethical things that would make any scientist cringe.. meaning I cringed and felt really uncomfortable when he was speaking about administering unneeded treatment to patients without their consent just because he was curious as to what would happen, and only stopped when he almost killed a woman and feared losing his job and standing. In pretty much all of my biology/ neuroscience classes, there is a section of the syllabus dedicated to ethics. So yeah, it's drilled into us and I'm not sure if ethics weren't of concern in Dr. Franklin's education or he just plain disregarded them, but yeah, not impressed. People like that give a bad name to ALL scientists, so you can understand how I feel.
February 3, 2019
This isn’t making me laugh and it’s not that interesting. Just sad stories and times he lied to patients.
DNF 12%
DNF 12%
May 12, 2022
The author is pompous and insufferable and the cringy stories all revolve around how awesome he is and how dumb everyone else is by comparison.
May 16, 2016
I stopped 20% into this one. The things the author found funny were not funny to me. For example, he played a trick on another medical professional using a dead patient. I felt bad for the patients and thought several things sounded like grounds for a lawsuit. Might as well quit while I'm ahead since I would assume that the author put the best stories at the beginning of the book. Such a let down because this book had so much potential.
April 13, 2023
Yikes!! I thought this would have lots of interesting medical stories. But it’s mainly a physician within a white David complex. Every interaction he has to mention the black nurses or how he went to the “hood� to go to a funeral. And who in the world thought it was a good idea to attempt AAVE reading this??? That was so incredibly uncomfortable.
November 2, 2023
First off, I’d give this .01 stars just because a.) he wrote a book and b.) he was a doctor.
Not a good book, and an even worse doctor. He was clearly an egomaniac whose sense of “humor� was deplorable and disgusting. Calling patients “crazy�. Calling for unnecessary testing that exposed patients to radioactive substances. Thinking he was so clever because he could insult a gang member’s intelligence during a blood draw (WHY does it matter that he was a gang member)?
Very condescending to patients and laughing about it.
This doctor requested an ECG and he allowed it to happen when the patient was already dead - so disrespectful to the human that just passed and what about their family? How in God’s name is that funny?
According to this doctor, ALL heroin addicts “are manipulative liars.� Oh yeah? Hey, Dr. Franklin, have you ever had a thought as to what drives people to turn to drugs? Have you heard of trauma? Where is the compassion?
In Chapter 6, he criticized the exact same behavior he himself conducted and described in detail earlier in the book. He created fake diagnoses. This man is a LIAR and hypocrite. And thinking it’s funny to degrade a nurse simply because she was smart enough to turn off a vibrator when the rest of the staff, including Dr. Franklin, was apparently standing there dumbfounded ? The judgement there is unforgivable.
Princess Diana / Elvis and your fascination? No one cares. Almost treated Reagan? No one cares.
So many stories entirely unrelated to him and his career.
Towards the end, after describing the treatment of the first AIDS patients, all he could focus on was how fortunate HE was not to have contracted the disease.
And he ends it all with a super negative rant about how the healthcare system at the time this was written was all about money. Maybe, but God help his future patients if he is still practicing medicine.
Not a good book, and an even worse doctor. He was clearly an egomaniac whose sense of “humor� was deplorable and disgusting. Calling patients “crazy�. Calling for unnecessary testing that exposed patients to radioactive substances. Thinking he was so clever because he could insult a gang member’s intelligence during a blood draw (WHY does it matter that he was a gang member)?
Very condescending to patients and laughing about it.
This doctor requested an ECG and he allowed it to happen when the patient was already dead - so disrespectful to the human that just passed and what about their family? How in God’s name is that funny?
According to this doctor, ALL heroin addicts “are manipulative liars.� Oh yeah? Hey, Dr. Franklin, have you ever had a thought as to what drives people to turn to drugs? Have you heard of trauma? Where is the compassion?
In Chapter 6, he criticized the exact same behavior he himself conducted and described in detail earlier in the book. He created fake diagnoses. This man is a LIAR and hypocrite. And thinking it’s funny to degrade a nurse simply because she was smart enough to turn off a vibrator when the rest of the staff, including Dr. Franklin, was apparently standing there dumbfounded ? The judgement there is unforgivable.
Princess Diana / Elvis and your fascination? No one cares. Almost treated Reagan? No one cares.
So many stories entirely unrelated to him and his career.
Towards the end, after describing the treatment of the first AIDS patients, all he could focus on was how fortunate HE was not to have contracted the disease.
And he ends it all with a super negative rant about how the healthcare system at the time this was written was all about money. Maybe, but God help his future patients if he is still practicing medicine.
February 22, 2018
Dr. Cory Franklin is the physician you want if you're facing a medical emergency. Compassionate, caring, and extremely knowledgeable, this book shares his decades as director of the ICU at the infamous Cook County Hospital.
Dr. Franklin was there through some of the most tumultuous times in the medical fields, from treating AIDS patients when little was known about the disease, to the extreme heat wave of 1995, to a sole survivor of a ricin attack...he was on the front lines and leading the way.
It didn't matter to Dr. Franklin if you were homeless and living on the streets or were a rich CEO, everyone was treated with the same caring and kindness.
Dr. Franklin was there through some of the most tumultuous times in the medical fields, from treating AIDS patients when little was known about the disease, to the extreme heat wave of 1995, to a sole survivor of a ricin attack...he was on the front lines and leading the way.
It didn't matter to Dr. Franklin if you were homeless and living on the streets or were a rich CEO, everyone was treated with the same caring and kindness.
January 25, 2023
Pretty tangential and appeared to be much more focused on self indulgent recalling of memories that made the author look clever than on interesting patient stories. Also some very questionable ethical behaviour and treatment of medical students and colleagues recalled in a way that was neither funny nor particularly interesting. Despite the title, most of the stories had nothing at all to do with the ICU.
June 13, 2023
Honestly just made me angry. Condescending, admits to poor treatment of patients on multiple occasions, and a strange vendetta against privacy laws (states we don’t need them because physicians take an oath to maintain privacy- then goes on to say right after that historically they didn’t always keep this oath??) I feel like if the author wanted to document their experiences that it should have been kept private for their family lol not for public consumption.
May 28, 2024
DNF. This was free on audible, I took a chance, and it didn’t pay off. I was hoping more for a medical oddities type experience, while instead I got an extremely old-fashioned, paternalistic, and arguably racist book. I particularly disliked how he tricked patients he knew wouldn’t know any better - maybe it was for the “radiation test� guy’s best interest but I don’t know. Or tricking the one guy into getting his blood drawn twice because the medical student screwed up. Or the patient he almost killed with a pharmaceutical treatment they didn’t really need because he wanted to try out a theory. It’s all a patient’s worst nightmare - not really good listening.
June 11, 2019
This book was a look at an Intensive Care physician focusing on work life. It goes through his training, focusing on what can be shocking to someone in their internship, his work in the various hospitals in Chicago and some of his devastating cases, and finally when he is semi-retired and donating his time to the clinics in the poorer parts of the Chicago area. He did have some fun as well including the time he helped Harrison Ford prepare for a role. It was one of the types of books I enjoy a glimpse into a job that I could never think of doing, but like reading about.
January 24, 2025
This book sucked. Old white man thinks he’s the savior of the West Side of Chicago. Goodbye
February 17, 2024
questionable ethics and the anti-hipaa take is really something� this is more of a memoir than medical cases
May 18, 2024
Before reading this, I didn't know much about the Cook County hospital or Dr. Cory Franklin, but it was enjoyable.
A lot went on at this Chicago hospital, and Franklin shared some of his best stories throughout his career.
The only negative thing is that, in talking about the hubris of doctors, he also has his own, which comes through in some of the stories. It wasn't overly unexpected, but still a bit off-putting.
Worth a read, though, with great pacing.
4 Stars
A lot went on at this Chicago hospital, and Franklin shared some of his best stories throughout his career.
The only negative thing is that, in talking about the hubris of doctors, he also has his own, which comes through in some of the stories. It wasn't overly unexpected, but still a bit off-putting.
Worth a read, though, with great pacing.
4 Stars
July 26, 2023
Retired white male physician glorifies the paternalistism in medicine treating the predominantly poor minority population at Cook County Hospital
His goal is to recount the good old days, but in actuality we have a white male physician treating a predominantly poor minority population at Cook County Hospital who is regailing his glory days, many of which include unethical practice. He never even addresses any mistakes he made or why they were wrong.
Lies to Patients: He recounts a story of student taking blood from the vein, and they needed an arterial sample. He has to retake the sample. Instead if telling the patient there was a mistake, he lies saying we need to compare the right and left side of your body. The author mentions that this could be had if the patient talks to someone else and realizes this isn't true. He does not acknowledge that the common practice to lies to patients, take the paternalistic approach, is damaging to the doctor patient relationship and one of many ways providers sew distrust in the Healthcare system.
Knowingly causes Harm: The author recounts having a patient either pulmonary edema, treats her then decides to administer morphine just to see what happens. She goes into anaphylaxis and has a negative reaction. Instead of acknowledging was an insane mistake this was, he joking recounts how this is 'Franklin's Law' to not try things just to see. JUST TO SEE.
In addition, the author ends the book with a poorly thought out argument against HIPPA regulations saying it has turned medicine into a "contract" between doctor and patient, when it used to be a "covenant". This coming from the man who gave drugs to a woman just to "see what happens."
I gave this book two stars and not one because it would be a good tool for medical students to read as an exercise in recognizing unethical practices common in the bygone era.
His goal is to recount the good old days, but in actuality we have a white male physician treating a predominantly poor minority population at Cook County Hospital who is regailing his glory days, many of which include unethical practice. He never even addresses any mistakes he made or why they were wrong.
Lies to Patients: He recounts a story of student taking blood from the vein, and they needed an arterial sample. He has to retake the sample. Instead if telling the patient there was a mistake, he lies saying we need to compare the right and left side of your body. The author mentions that this could be had if the patient talks to someone else and realizes this isn't true. He does not acknowledge that the common practice to lies to patients, take the paternalistic approach, is damaging to the doctor patient relationship and one of many ways providers sew distrust in the Healthcare system.
Knowingly causes Harm: The author recounts having a patient either pulmonary edema, treats her then decides to administer morphine just to see what happens. She goes into anaphylaxis and has a negative reaction. Instead of acknowledging was an insane mistake this was, he joking recounts how this is 'Franklin's Law' to not try things just to see. JUST TO SEE.
In addition, the author ends the book with a poorly thought out argument against HIPPA regulations saying it has turned medicine into a "contract" between doctor and patient, when it used to be a "covenant". This coming from the man who gave drugs to a woman just to "see what happens."
I gave this book two stars and not one because it would be a good tool for medical students to read as an exercise in recognizing unethical practices common in the bygone era.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
December 15, 2023
0.5 💫
DNFed after reading 25%
Title of this book is extremely misleading. It does not contain 30 years of experience in Cook County ICU or interesting patient cases. The author, Dr Franklin, comes across condescending and full of himself. He openly admits to engaging in unethical practices such as lying to patients, intentionally misdiagnosing them, and giving unnecessary medication. He goes as far as using dead bodies to play pranks on his students and interns. He once ordered ECG on a patient who was already deceased, justifying it by disrespectfully stating that the patient was already dead.
Author fails to include any positive stories about medical staff. ICU are primarily ran by nurses, not egomaniacs!
It is surprising to see the number of 3-5 stars.
DNFed after reading 25%
Title of this book is extremely misleading. It does not contain 30 years of experience in Cook County ICU or interesting patient cases. The author, Dr Franklin, comes across condescending and full of himself. He openly admits to engaging in unethical practices such as lying to patients, intentionally misdiagnosing them, and giving unnecessary medication. He goes as far as using dead bodies to play pranks on his students and interns. He once ordered ECG on a patient who was already deceased, justifying it by disrespectfully stating that the patient was already dead.
Author fails to include any positive stories about medical staff. ICU are primarily ran by nurses, not egomaniacs!
It is surprising to see the number of 3-5 stars.
December 20, 2023
Was going to give this book 3 stars because I generally liked the stories but wow did he go off the rails sometimes. He mentions how aspects of medicine have becomes relics of their times, yet he too is a relic and his views of how medical practices should be is rather astounding. I did agree with some of his opinions, but others were rather appalling and should be left in the 70s where they belong.
June 18, 2016
The doc was really cocky through all his stories. And it wasn't very interesting.
March 16, 2023
A lot of name dropping and weird brags without most of the amazing stuff that actually happens in ICU.
October 14, 2023
I'm relieved this man is no longer practicing medicine.
This author needs the largest slice of humble pie available. He is pompous, rude, and admits to blatantly lying to patients numerous times. The worst part is that he seems proud of these things due to his delusion that he hung the moon. He is the epitome of people going into medicine because they are smart enough (and also because of nepotism in his situation) and not because they truly care about the patients.
Just a short list of red flags about this man:
- regularly lying to patients
- purposefully misdiagnosing patients
- giving inappropriate treatments and medications to patients (sometimes just to see what would happen and sometimes to play a joke on another medical professional)
- his prejudice against people of color and those of lower economic status
- the dismissal of patients concerns and refusal to complete a work up
- his constant need to take credit for things that others did
- the disrespect he showed to patients and coworkers
After 3 chapters of this book I knew it wasn't worth finishing. The only reason I did is to make sure I could learn as much as possible about providers like him to better look out for my own patients and be able to protect them from incompetent providers in the future.
This author needs the largest slice of humble pie available. He is pompous, rude, and admits to blatantly lying to patients numerous times. The worst part is that he seems proud of these things due to his delusion that he hung the moon. He is the epitome of people going into medicine because they are smart enough (and also because of nepotism in his situation) and not because they truly care about the patients.
Just a short list of red flags about this man:
- regularly lying to patients
- purposefully misdiagnosing patients
- giving inappropriate treatments and medications to patients (sometimes just to see what would happen and sometimes to play a joke on another medical professional)
- his prejudice against people of color and those of lower economic status
- the dismissal of patients concerns and refusal to complete a work up
- his constant need to take credit for things that others did
- the disrespect he showed to patients and coworkers
After 3 chapters of this book I knew it wasn't worth finishing. The only reason I did is to make sure I could learn as much as possible about providers like him to better look out for my own patients and be able to protect them from incompetent providers in the future.
August 6, 2024
I truly enjoyed reading this book!! I actually learned so much in regard to what goes on behind the scenes in the medical profession!! I worked in a hospital for 15 years and so much of this book reminded me of my days in the hospital environment!!
December 28, 2015
COOK COUNTY ICU is a fascinating and well-written peek into the career of an Intensive Care Unit doctor. Franklin's story is an incredible one that has taken him from rubbing elbows with Hollywood elite as a technical adviser on the set of The Fugitive to serving some of the nation's poorest communities at a free clinic.
Franklin isn't haughty; he's more than willing to admit when he makes a mistake or talk about the shortcomings and egos that muck up the medical profession. He's also willing to talk to patients and try to understand their situations, even when they behave in confounding ways, such as the indignant elderly man who told the doctor that he suffered from both "high blood" and "low blood."
There are bound to be some patients in this book who stick with you long after you're finished reading. For me, that person was Mr. Baker, just one of untold numbers of patients who perfectly illustrate the "elephant in the hospital room"--that is, our collective refusal to acknowledge the connection between dietary choices and chronic, serious illness.
Mr. Baker was a Southern cook who brought barbecue ribs with him to every doctor's appointment to distribute to hospital staff. Franklin gleefully accepts the food and spends nearly half a page praising it. Baker suffered from shockingly high blood pressure (205/120) that nearly ended his life, diabetes, and chronic debilitating pain from degenerative arthritis. In addition to the ribs Baker brought with him to every clinic visit, he made it an annual tradition to gift an entire smoked turkey to Dr. Franklin each Thanksgiving. Shortly after one such Thanksgiving meeting, Mr. Baker collapsed and died from a massive heart attack. Discouragingly, his son decided to take over the family business and brought some of his own barbecue ribs to Dr. Franklin and his staff.
There was once a time, not so long ago, when The "funny alcoholic" was an archetype in popular TV shows and movies.
Franklin is glad of the societal changes that have made these depictions no longer acceptable, and he writes forcefully of the health dangers associated with tobacco and alcohol.
Chances are, Franklin would not be amused if a patient with emphysema or cirrhosis of the liver merrily brought in cartons of cigarettes or bottles of liquor to gift to him and his staff. However, he shows a surprising amount of ignorance when a diabetic man with hypertension brings in fat and cholesterol smothered in sugar. The doctor doesn't just neglect to advise Mr. Baker on making better diet choices, he revels in the junk food. To me, this is negligence on the part of Dr. Franklin. And the fact that Mr. Baker's son, already genetically predisposed to his father's health problems, is now following in his footsteps is deeply sad.
Franklin isn't haughty; he's more than willing to admit when he makes a mistake or talk about the shortcomings and egos that muck up the medical profession. He's also willing to talk to patients and try to understand their situations, even when they behave in confounding ways, such as the indignant elderly man who told the doctor that he suffered from both "high blood" and "low blood."
There are bound to be some patients in this book who stick with you long after you're finished reading. For me, that person was Mr. Baker, just one of untold numbers of patients who perfectly illustrate the "elephant in the hospital room"--that is, our collective refusal to acknowledge the connection between dietary choices and chronic, serious illness.
Mr. Baker was a Southern cook who brought barbecue ribs with him to every doctor's appointment to distribute to hospital staff. Franklin gleefully accepts the food and spends nearly half a page praising it. Baker suffered from shockingly high blood pressure (205/120) that nearly ended his life, diabetes, and chronic debilitating pain from degenerative arthritis. In addition to the ribs Baker brought with him to every clinic visit, he made it an annual tradition to gift an entire smoked turkey to Dr. Franklin each Thanksgiving. Shortly after one such Thanksgiving meeting, Mr. Baker collapsed and died from a massive heart attack. Discouragingly, his son decided to take over the family business and brought some of his own barbecue ribs to Dr. Franklin and his staff.
There was once a time, not so long ago, when The "funny alcoholic" was an archetype in popular TV shows and movies.
Franklin is glad of the societal changes that have made these depictions no longer acceptable, and he writes forcefully of the health dangers associated with tobacco and alcohol.
Chances are, Franklin would not be amused if a patient with emphysema or cirrhosis of the liver merrily brought in cartons of cigarettes or bottles of liquor to gift to him and his staff. However, he shows a surprising amount of ignorance when a diabetic man with hypertension brings in fat and cholesterol smothered in sugar. The doctor doesn't just neglect to advise Mr. Baker on making better diet choices, he revels in the junk food. To me, this is negligence on the part of Dr. Franklin. And the fact that Mr. Baker's son, already genetically predisposed to his father's health problems, is now following in his footsteps is deeply sad.
June 20, 2024
I have always had an interest in learning about unique medical cases from around the world and was drawn to this book for that reason, as it follows Dr. Franklin and his experiences as a medical doctor. I quickly realized, that there are a plethora of ethical concerns and bias that make this book extremely uncomfortable and to be frank—quite scary.
Dr. Franklin admits to unethical practice twice within the first three chapters. He first discusses administering medication that was not needed to a pt; who ultimately was allergic and could have died from the reaction. Thankfully, that wasn’t the case—but what a chilling confession. The second instance is when he pretends to treat a pt who presented to the ER with fears of being “radioactive�. The Doctor was clear that the objective was to alleviate the pt’s delusion. It was discussed that the pt was refusing to speak with a psychiatrist, making it clear the primary team was aware that this was most likely a mental health related issue. Rather, than encouraging the pt to speak with a mental health practitioner, he decided to enable the pt’s delusion and pretend to administer “radioactive� treatment—fully aware that this was not a concern and the hospital had no method in testing or treating any type of radioactive contamination. I will say, that Dr. Franklin did acknowledge that he evolved from these experiences professionally and I can appreciate that. We all love a candid approach, I just think it’s jarring to hear admissions from a medical doctor that are completely avoidable.
Dr. Franklin needs to learn cultural competence and challenge his bias regarding underserved populations. There are unnecessary distinguishing details regarding pt’s such as emphasizing a pt was affiliated with a gang while perpetuating stereotypes of criminality. The white male narrator on audible changing his voice to fit African American Vernacular English (AAVE) when taking the role of the pt described as a “gang-member� was cringy and offensive. There are multiple references to pt’s being labeled as “crazy� and jokes involving pt’s who present to the ER at night. This perspective coming from a medical doctor is again.. concerning as there are millions of Americans who are forced to utilize the emergency department in place of primary care and community mental health treatment due to the gap involving access to health insurance.
—Updates pending.
Dr. Franklin admits to unethical practice twice within the first three chapters. He first discusses administering medication that was not needed to a pt; who ultimately was allergic and could have died from the reaction. Thankfully, that wasn’t the case—but what a chilling confession. The second instance is when he pretends to treat a pt who presented to the ER with fears of being “radioactive�. The Doctor was clear that the objective was to alleviate the pt’s delusion. It was discussed that the pt was refusing to speak with a psychiatrist, making it clear the primary team was aware that this was most likely a mental health related issue. Rather, than encouraging the pt to speak with a mental health practitioner, he decided to enable the pt’s delusion and pretend to administer “radioactive� treatment—fully aware that this was not a concern and the hospital had no method in testing or treating any type of radioactive contamination. I will say, that Dr. Franklin did acknowledge that he evolved from these experiences professionally and I can appreciate that. We all love a candid approach, I just think it’s jarring to hear admissions from a medical doctor that are completely avoidable.
Dr. Franklin needs to learn cultural competence and challenge his bias regarding underserved populations. There are unnecessary distinguishing details regarding pt’s such as emphasizing a pt was affiliated with a gang while perpetuating stereotypes of criminality. The white male narrator on audible changing his voice to fit African American Vernacular English (AAVE) when taking the role of the pt described as a “gang-member� was cringy and offensive. There are multiple references to pt’s being labeled as “crazy� and jokes involving pt’s who present to the ER at night. This perspective coming from a medical doctor is again.. concerning as there are millions of Americans who are forced to utilize the emergency department in place of primary care and community mental health treatment due to the gap involving access to health insurance.
—Updates pending.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
December 24, 2023
2.5/5� Comes off as pretty arrogant at times and tells some stories of where he lied to or deceived patients. Parts of it were interesting but it never really gripped me.
October 16, 2017
Audio book, very enjoyable to listen to on my commute. Not super exciting, but very accurate and some very good stories. I was all set to give this book 3.5 stars and round it up to be kind because of the subject matter. I am a physician and like books by physicians IF they don't come across as arrogant and Dr. Franklin is truly humble and a very upright, decent, noncritical fellow. A bit too diplomatic at times, possibly.
When I got to the last chapter which was FABULOUS, as it explained WHY HIPPA is such a fucking pain in the ass (without using any profanity in the explanation). What an intelligent and thoughtful essay, covering exactly why Physician Burnout happens, why this profession which is so amazing, is also so hard. Hint: It is NOT the patients, they are great people.
So: hard core 4 stars just for that last chapter.
What could have been better: John Pruden, the narrator, is terrific and one of my favorites, but he wasn't the perfect choice for this book.
Also the book was written fairly well, but not super well. He writes like a doctor writes. So some chapters were very good, others just OK.
P.S. I wasn't surprised to learn that Harrison Ford is no better than he ought to be.
When I got to the last chapter which was FABULOUS, as it explained WHY HIPPA is such a fucking pain in the ass (without using any profanity in the explanation). What an intelligent and thoughtful essay, covering exactly why Physician Burnout happens, why this profession which is so amazing, is also so hard. Hint: It is NOT the patients, they are great people.
So: hard core 4 stars just for that last chapter.
What could have been better: John Pruden, the narrator, is terrific and one of my favorites, but he wasn't the perfect choice for this book.
Also the book was written fairly well, but not super well. He writes like a doctor writes. So some chapters were very good, others just OK.
P.S. I wasn't surprised to learn that Harrison Ford is no better than he ought to be.
August 20, 2017
Listened to in audio format.
I enjoy books with a medical theme and this did not disappoint me.
In this book Dr Franklin recounts stories about his colleagues and patients during his 32 years in medicine. Some of Dr Franklin's stories are listed above but he also recounts:
* The time when he was the on set Medical Advisor to Harrison Ford during The Fugitive.
* The extremely rude surgeon and the junior doctor who answered him back over the operating table.
* The patient who presented Dr Franklin with a plate of spare ribs every time he came into clinic.
* The nurse with Munchausens Syndrome.
This book gave me a warm glow. Dr Franklin obviously cared about his patients and saw them as people not just a list of symptoms. This shone throughout the book, definitely worth a book if you like medical books.
I enjoy books with a medical theme and this did not disappoint me.
In this book Dr Franklin recounts stories about his colleagues and patients during his 32 years in medicine. Some of Dr Franklin's stories are listed above but he also recounts:
* The time when he was the on set Medical Advisor to Harrison Ford during The Fugitive.
* The extremely rude surgeon and the junior doctor who answered him back over the operating table.
* The patient who presented Dr Franklin with a plate of spare ribs every time he came into clinic.
* The nurse with Munchausens Syndrome.
This book gave me a warm glow. Dr Franklin obviously cared about his patients and saw them as people not just a list of symptoms. This shone throughout the book, definitely worth a book if you like medical books.
November 19, 2016
Franklin seems to assume the reader has a familiarity with Chicago and Chicago politics. He was head of intensive care at Cook County Hospital, which was later renamed for a Chicago politician, not for any of the hospital staff. His stories and remembrances were entertaining and covered many aspects of hospital life and his early training.
February 10, 2024
Read this. Stat!
July 10, 2024
4.5 rounded up
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