Tenets of Thieves

A severe chest pain awakens Sam Jackson, a middle-aged truck driver, from deep sleep. His wife rushes him to the nearest emergency room, but this hospital is not under contract to his health maintenance organization. After stabilization, Sam is transferred to a contracted facility where he is immediately ensnared by the self-serving dictates of managed care. After recuperation, Sam attempts to reinstate his commercial driver's license, but is denied because of the residual damage to his heart. He files a malpractice suit, and during pre-trial questioning the cardiologist admits that he didn't perform surgery because of orders from his superiors. When the case comes to trial, the feelings and emotions of each participant are explored. Tenets of Thieves minutely presents, from an insider's view, parts of our current medical system wherein "David" patients too often must seek medical care from "Goliath" Fortune 500 companies whose primary motivation is satisfying their investors' financial expectations rather than the well-being of their "covered lives."Mahnke, John is the author of 'Tenets of Thieves', published 2005 under ISBN 9781413755152 and ISBN 1413755151.