Deadly Spin | Bloomsbury Press

Deadly Spin | Bloomsbury Press:

'via Blog this'Listen to Wendell Potter (Deadly Spin) put in his two cents on Public Radio International’s“Marketplace”'s story on "Some insurers oppose health law repeal".

“[Potter] ridicules the notion that America’s free-market system can provide actual health care within a for-profit structure… This whistle-blower perspective will heighten discussion and debate on the vital topic of health care in America.”—Mary Whaley, Booklist

Potter also placed an op-ed in today’s edition of The Tennessean (Nashville) – it is also being picked up by blogs, including The Huffington Post

David Whelan of Forbes has a lengthy post today about Wendell Potter’s DEADLY SPIN on his Forbes.com “Health Dollars” blog, pulling highlights from the book (and a link to Amazon!) and promising to post more about it on Monday! So far it has been reTweeted by 7 people and has gotten 2 Diggs… Excerpt: Spying On Michael Moore And Dumping Sick People Overboard: Highlights From Wendell Potter's Harsh HMO Memoir (Part I)

 The disinformation campaigns with which health insurance companies hide misdeeds and manipulate public policy are laid bare in this searing j'accuse by one of their own. Potter, a former CIGNA public relations "spin-meister" whose whistle-blowing congressional testimony made a splash, takes us into the war rooms where he and his fellow flacks battled bad publicity--their counterattack against the documentary Sicko included employee training in how to weather a Michael Moore ambush--and fought to stymie health-care legislation. (He helped formulate the rhetoric of socialism and death panels that thundered from Republican podiums.) He exposes the PR pros' propaganda tricks--fake grass-roots organizations, bogus scientific studies--and recounts his shame-faced repentance. But he also trenchantly critiques the failure of America's for-profit health-insurance system: the underhanded methods insurers use to "dump the sick"; the skyrocketing premiums and deductibles that put health care beyond the reach of millions; the obscene salaries executives rake in while denying benefits to patients. These criticisms aren't new, but Potter's street cred and deep knowledge of the industry make his indictment unusually vivid and compelling. —Publishers Weekly

"An illuminating, up-to-the-minute testimonial sure to garner widespread attention and controversy.” —Kirkus Reviews