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Summary: You'll think twice before you check into a hospital!
Review: Blind Eye is an excellent book and a scary one as well as you read how over and over again a Dr. got away with murder from one hospital to the next! The amazing thing is that each hospital there were signs anyone could see but which the medical establishment in protecting their own decided to ignore. A look into the mind & "career" of a killer and the establishment that let him flourish for so long. The killer, Dr. Mike Swango could be released as early as this year from prison, which is one reason why this review is anonymous! This is a excellent book, a real page turner, just don't read it if your recovering in a hospital!
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Summary: An Important Expose
Review: James B. Stewart's courageous book on the dangerous career of Michael Swango should give us all chills. The power that the medical profession uses to protect its own has spilled over to shield a serial killer who could have worked in anyone's hospital. It it time to do something about professions regulating their own. I could not put this book down; Mr. Stewart is an excellent writer. I have long been a Stewart fan, but the remarkable coincidence that tied him to this story makes it all the more interesting. It is an important read.
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Summary: Amazon review is right on
Review: Stayed up til dawn to finish the book. The medicial establishment is not presented as being evil, but its culture _is_ shown to be often self-centered and self-serving.
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Summary: Blind Eye
Review: Must read for anyone who does Medical Staff Credentials! I would highly recommend this book for anyone who works in a hospital. It can happen anywhere, even in your own hometown!
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Summary: Good prose; biased reporting
Review: Blind Eye was an interesting read, but Stewart really draws the wrong conclusion from the data. His flawed conclusion, that the American medical establishment is inherently evil and is responsible for the monster Swango, is primarily due to Stewart's personal bias against physicians and powerful cliques in general. This bias manifests itself by the complete failure of the author to include the dozens of other residency programs that rejected Swango's matriculation, and attributing OSU et al's hiring of him as sinister. The simple fact is that Michael Swango is an evil person who is a master of deception, who having the ability to kill hundreds of people, was only able to ostensibly kill 20 or 30. To use one psychopath's misdeeds as an indictment of an entire industry composed of millions of people who deliver world renowned care is ludicrous. Why not blame Swango's crimes on elementary educators, the Marine Corp or the lawyers, police and judges who knew about this man? Instead Stewart goes for the easy (and most lucrative for book sales) target: the medical establishment. Michael Swango is not the natural constituency of the medical community; he is the antithesis of it. Stewart rightly points out the tendency of physicians to shy away from situations that seem prone to litigation (big surprize!), and the well known "circle the wagon" mentality in the medical profession, but wildly distorting the ontological connection between these and a madman like Swango is libelous. Stewart's sincere concern of the problems in our health care system could be handled much more honestly and effectively than by foisting his specious hyperbole on a stampede prone public. The story of Michael Swango is an importent one to tell, but the author should have reined in his personal bias prior to rendering his conclusions. (A note of interest: I spent an afternoon with Michael Swango in 1990 or !991 interviewing him for matriculation to our family practice residency program in Oklahoma. Though sorely in need of residents and his having a strong academic record, we rejected his application due to our concerns about his dubious past. Swango personally told me he was looking at several other programs at that time; it appears as those programs rejected him as well)
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Summary: A Must Read!
Review: I just finished reading this book the other day. Being a patient will never be the same again. To read how the medical community either covered up for Michael Swango, or just didn't want to believe a doctor could be capable of poisoning patients, is unsettling to say the least. Nurses, hospital workers, and patients were all discounted by some physicians as just "gossips." Even a conviction of trying to poison co-workers wasn't enough to stop Swango from getting employment. There were some who knew Michael Swango was bad news even in medical school, but their concerns went unheeded. Its frightening. Every person, whether in the medical field or not, should read this book. And to think that this guy is about to get out of prison!
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Summary: Revealing, disturbing TRUE story
Review: Doctors do cover up for doctors! And Drs. do bury their mistakes! I've seen peer reviews & know it for a fact. This man however did not make mistakes, he committed murder. This book is a must read for everyone & if you are hospitalized, & do not know your Dr. personally, question every test and medicine they prescribe for you, it is your RIGHT and also to see your charts, it is YOUR chart. This practice is becoming more prevalent in this age as impossible as it seems, and this book describes how easy it can be. Swango may be out in Jan.2000 unless they can charge him with murder & like all serial killers he will continue, his purported 60 victims are just a start. AMA should be bombarded with letters, its a fact innept Drs. do not get reported, let's make it a law. Read this frightening book and recommend it to everyone.
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Summary: See the Bigger (Sordid) Picture
Review: With "Blind Eye", James B. Stewart exposes what must be known, that doctors cover for each other's misconduct, and can even (incredibly easily) get away with murder. The subject of this book, Michael Swango, MD, may have gotten away with dozens of murders. Why? Because his supervising doctors at the med centers where Swango worked conducted sham internal investigations, didn't do background checks on him, and eventually covered up for the alarming number of unexplained deaths of patients in his care. Why would the hospital administrations whitewash the investigations into one of their doctors who appeared to be reponsible for many patient deaths? Because they feared being sued - by the patients' survivors - and, by Swango. The most drastic action his employers would take was to dismiss him, but in so doing, would still write him recommendations for future positions and licensing. "Blind Eye" reads like a mystery novel, you won't want to close it. EVERYONE HAS GOT TO READ THIS - but be warned - it will turn your blood to steam.
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Summary: Absolutely Spellbinding!
Review: After having seen a segment about this person on TV, I ran out and got the book. I bought it the day after Thanksgiving and finished it the next night! I stayed up till all hours both nights. I just couldn't put it down. It was well written, no typos in it (great job!) and kept me interested from start to finish. I plan on reading more from this author and hope they are just as good. I am an avid reader of true crime and this is one more author to add to my list. Please come out with more like this one! Thank you for a great book and great entertainment! Pat McCamy
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Summary: Arm Yourself With the Knowledge you'll gain by reading this
Review: This book is an absolute MUST READ. And after you do read it, Circulate it and the knowledge you just gained. Swango gets released this coming January. He needs to be STOPPED. Also, Hospitals need to be stopped from doing the things that allow creeps like Swango from continuing their heinous deeds.
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