Less Medicine, More Health

“Avoiding medical jargon, Welch speaks directly to the layperson and focuses on certain assumptions that have increased consumption in a market-driven society; some of which have become so ingrained by popular media that refuting them seems downright scandalous… Welch’s words, though wise beyond money, border on sacrilege in a country of generally healthy people who have developed an expensive health-care habit and who are expected to support a lucrative health-care industry. Welch’s conversational style makes his prescription for better health an easy pill to swallow.” 
—Booklist, starred review

“A bright, lively discussion of the excesses of medical care to which patients often unwittingly go due to certain false assumptions… Welch demonstrates the flaws in these assumptions. His stories involve the risks, uncertainties and harms of cancer screenings, treatments for heart disease, drugs, medical devices and surgical procedures. He makes an especially strong case for the risks of mass screenings for cancer—the fear, the false alarms, the overdiagnoses and the resulting overtreatments. Vivid images make what could be discouragingly technical quite understandable… Welch’s engaging style and touches of humor make this an easy read, and the facts he presents make a convincing case.”
—Kirkus Reviews

“Read this book. It is smart, witty, wonderfully written, and above all wise. We’ve overmedicalized life and yet we need medicine throughout our lives. No one explains better when we do, when we don’t, and why.”
—Atul Gawande, author of Complications and Being Mortal

“Wise, witty, fascinating and alarmingly persuasive—this is a book everyone should read, especially my doctor.”
—Bill Bryson, author of A Short History of Nearly Everything

“With the style of a trustworthy country doctor, Welch, an academic heavyweight, urges us to reject the allure of reducing all health risks by using the latest technology to gather all the data and to fix the problems sooner rather than later. Showing the dangers of our ill-informed enthusiasm for medicine, he brilliantly builds the case for respecting its power and limitations: to seek it when ill and all but avoid it when healthy.”
—Victor M. Montori, MD, Professor of Medicine, Mayo Clinic

“Gil Welch’s latest book shows us exactly how too much medical care can be harmful and even deadly.  This is a needed corrective to the American attitude that the more screening and testing, the healthier we will be.”
—Marcia Angell, author of The Truth About Drug Companies

“Its title, ‘Less Medicine, More Health,’ sums up his trenchant, point-by-point critique of test-based health care and quality control.”
—New York Times