Snowball in a Blizzard

"Uncertainty lies at the heart of modern medicine in ways that most physicians--not to mention their patients--often fail to recognize. Fundamental imperfections in our understanding of health and disease limit doctors' ability to combat illness. Hatch, an assistant professor of medicine at the University of Massachusetts Medical School, argues that physicians who ignore this uncertainty often overtreat their patients, resulting in sometimes harmful, even fatal consequences. By the same token, far too many patients assume that more medical care is always better than less, thereby seeking or consenting to toxic treatments that trigger needless suffering. Hatch provides examples from such fields as breast cancer, cardiology and infectious disease. He also offers straightforward rules of thumb to help readers navigate medical advice."

"Informative...Snowball in a Blizzard adds an important perspective...[The book] rightly sounds the alarm: Better communication between doctors and patients is essential to improve medical decision making."

"A penetrating examination of uncertainty in diagnoses and treatment."

"Snowball in a Blizzard is Hatch's first book, but the clarity and wit of his discussions rank with that of the best science writers."

"This intriguing perspective on the obscurity of medicine...is highly recommended for health-care professionals, health-conscious patients, and well-informed consumer health readers."

"A carefully argued, unsettling, and important work."

"In writing, Hatch strives to find 'that sweet spot where readability and scholarliness overlap'... he succeeds, telling stories that clarify the points he's making, and he even includes a highly personal anecdote that shows him struggling to deal with doctors who were sure they knew the right treatment for his elderly, hospitalized father... Hatch ably reveals the shortcomings of medicine."

"I can say with certainty that Steven Hatch's Snowball astutely deconstructs the uncertainty in the practice of medicine--from diagnosis to treatment to media coverage--as well as this important topic has ever been tackled."

"What could be more intuitive: that physicians should be humble, admitting the uncertainty of their medical sciences and treating their patients like equals. Would that it were. Although who knows--if enough doctors and patients read Steve Hatch's masterfully-argued Snowball--maybe someday it will be."

"Hatch's Snowball in a Blizzard is like Carl Sagan's famous 'baloney detection kit' for medical scientific research. How can we figure out which 'discoveries' to trust or to take with a grain of salt? First step: Read this book."