Blind Eye: The Terrifying Story Of A Doctor Who Got Away With Murder

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Summary: A psycopath with an M.D. is harrowing indeed.
Review: Mr. Stewart has performed a valuable service in exceptional style by exposing Michael Swango,M.D. as a psycopathic killer who takes advantage of the weaknesses in our policing of physicians. My only surprise is that this book has not been a consistent best-seller. Mr. Stewart has created a very readable thriller that says much about our society today. Dr.Swango literally gets away with murder and no one seems particularly interested in making sure that he is stopped. One gets the distinct impression that Dr. Swango is well aware of that fact as he continues to move through various medical venues. One is also left to wonder why some of Dr. Swango's various victims are so willing to overlook his obviously strange habits and personality traits. As an orthopedic surgeon, this book is particularly hard to digest. Although the vast majority of physicians are honest and capable, the changes in healthcare insurance have had a deliterious effect on medical care and, at times, medical judgement. Our legal system, believe it or not, is very poor at protecting patients from substandard or dangerous care. Lawyers have little interest in the overt malpractice unless it can pay off in big dollars. Lawyers can also subvert peer review and other methods that could help protect the public from bad physicians. Consequently, a medical-legal policing system that cannot stop a Michael Swango needs an overhaul. Mr. Stewart's next book should be on HMO abuses and the efforts that the medical insurance industry makes to de-rail appropriate medical care. That book would make Den of Thieves look like a nursery rhyme.

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Summary: Thoroughly researched and well written
Review: There are times that the truth is stranger than fiction and this novel, reflecting an incredible effort on the part of the author to dig out all the facts, is such a tale. How could such a monster remain in medical practice?! Every reader will draw his or her own conclusions: my own is that the moral courage required to root out evil is in short supply. Many people recognized Michael Swango as a sick individual but our social systems failed, be it the politics of supplying manpower for medical residency programs, the dearth of doctors in high need areas,the incredible egos of powerful doctors stonewalling investigations for fear of being splattered with adverse publicity or the barriers that our legal system has erected to the timely pruning of rotten branches. This story features a doctor who is an irredeemable psychopath who will keep searching until he finds another crack in the system that allows him access to trusting victims once again. Scary!

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Summary: Every person involved in the med care industry should read
Review: Heard James Stewart on Book-Tv and ordered book from Amzn. Could hardly put it down. Every page is startling. Having been on a county medical society impaired physician committee, I could believe every word. Every person who has anything to do with the Health Care industry should read this book. One bad apple can ruin the basket.

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Summary: The Devil Himself.
Review: While written in a rather dry style, James Stewart does a great job researching the life of this truly evil serial killer. The sad thing is that this guy will someday be walking the streets, hopefully not coming to an HMO near you.

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Summary: Scarier than any suspense-thriller... and it's real, too.
Review: Have you ever thought of a really bad hospital scenario and hoped that it would never happen to you? Well, to dozens of people, it did. And Blind Eye shows you just how it happened, how the Medical system failed the public by giving a doctor free reign to kill off his patients. It's incredibly terrifying, so much so that if you're planning a visit to the hospital soon, I recommend you don't read it yet. But once you're out of that electronic door, you're good to go. It's a quick read, too. I highly recommend Blind Eye to everyone who's not afraid to be just a little bit scared, a little shocked and a lot more aware.

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Summary: NEVER ENTER A HOSPTIAL THE SAME WAY AGAIN
Review: It's simple...We all think hospitals, like day-care centers, and police stations, are havens from injury, abuse and an over-all seed of comfort and compassion. Stewart's account of Dr. Swango will scratch one last place off that "safe" list. What is more appalling, are all the cover-ups and "its not my fault" backlash, that permits murderers to continue their path. A great read, and truly an eye opener.

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Summary: Physicians Better Heal Themselves
Review: The medical profession seems more interested in money and a technically "good name" than it does with "doing the right thing." This book is terrifying, not because there are psychopaths in the world, but because doctors who encountered this man were more interested in protecting their incomes and the "good name" of their hospitals than they were in catching a murderer in their midst. These folks are all style, no substance. The medical profession should be compelled to read Donald V. Paone's "To Be or Not to Be: Reflections on Modern Bioethical Choices" and start doing the right thing instead of merely trying to "appear" as if they are doing the right thing. Stewart's book is brilliant and will make you think twice before you trust your local hospital. Then again, when you're sick, where else can you go? This book is upsetting to say the least.

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Summary: Another Great James Stewart Book
Review: Stewart makes a scary, but very important subject a great and exciting read. The only flaw is that he uses the word "incredulous" way too many times. Hopefully this book will serve to make medical/hospital patients receive better and safer care. He has to be considered one of the greatest non-fiction writers of our time. Incidently I met Mr. Stewart on a trip to Santorini, Greece (having purchased the book at the airport on the way over) and he was a very friendly, nice guy and we discussed Blind Eye & Den Of Thieves in some detail.

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Summary: A Book that Hits Home
Review: I attend Quincy University, formerly Quincy College, where Swango got his first degree. It's chilling to think that their can be a serial killer in your own community. I think Stewart did a wonderful job with this book-- the horror increases with each hospital Swango arrives at, and the death count rises. I thought it dragged a bit in the middle, but that was only because Stewart had to document how much this guy was able to get away with, and it began to get repetitive. Like Stewart himself said when he visited our campus to discuss this book, it's a shame that Swango doesn't have to face all the people whose lives he's destroyed, and listen to their stories, and see their tears the way the author did. We can only hope that the law and medical establishment will wake up and keep this guy out of our hospitals.

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Summary: Compelling story, but banal writing and factual errors
Review: The story of Michael Swango is inherently interesting, but the author does not do it justice. His writing is repetitive and banal (at perhaps a sixth grade level). He re-uses the same adverbs and adjectives to a distracting degree (just try to count how many times he uses the word "handsome" or reports that people felt "faint"). The last chapter, dealing with serial murder among health care professionals and the National Practitioner Data Bank, has numerous serious errors that that the lay reader (and professionals reviewers) would not be able to detect. But, having done research and writing in these areas, I know that they are whoppers.