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4.3 AVERAGE
4.3 AVERAGE
Reads like a thriller, could not stop reading! And yet, it's a little like reading a horror story where you know the ending. It goes well at first, but you know things are going to take a turn.
Phenomenal accounting of the US government's failure to beat COVID-19, despite the heroic efforts of smart, dedicated individuals. Let's hope leaders of all stripes read and take to heart Mr. Lewis's prescription, in time for the next pandemic.
This was a quick read because I could not put it down. If you are familiar with Michael Lewis then you know he writes stories. The stories are about real people dealing with real situations. And as a reader it is difficult to ignore their plights.
The pandemic in question is the one we are still grappling with - COVID-19. The premonition refers to the people who had an inkling, figured out what could be done, and busted their chops only to be cut off at the knees by a government, both federal and state, that was inept.
The words that came to mind as I read this book – frustrating, blinded by politics, irritating, damning, demoralizing, a lot of stupidity, irritation, feeble… And I lost any respect for the CDC that might have lingered, though frankly I had begun to lose respect for and faith in them back in 2020. My initial list of adjectives was longer and more intense. The possibility existed for minimizing what has turned out to be catastrophic, but because of politics - POLITICS damn it – catastrophe won out over everything else.
This book deals with the response (or initial lack of response) by the United States. There are true heroes in it, the "Wolverines" and their compadres who did everything in their power to prepare and provide support. Read it to be encouraged by them and have hope.
The Public Health Company arose from the ashes of the pandemic response. It was created by, staffed by and advised by people who knew what to do to manage the pandemic, people who were not sufficiently listened to, people who dealt with the frustration of a political system that was mostly inert. I hope the Public Health Company succeeds, because there surely will be another type of pandemic and someone will at least be prepared!
The pandemic in question is the one we are still grappling with - COVID-19. The premonition refers to the people who had an inkling, figured out what could be done, and busted their chops only to be cut off at the knees by a government, both federal and state, that was inept.
The words that came to mind as I read this book – frustrating, blinded by politics, irritating, damning, demoralizing, a lot of stupidity, irritation, feeble… And I lost any respect for the CDC that might have lingered, though frankly I had begun to lose respect for and faith in them back in 2020. My initial list of adjectives was longer and more intense. The possibility existed for minimizing what has turned out to be catastrophic, but because of politics - POLITICS damn it – catastrophe won out over everything else.
This book deals with the response (or initial lack of response) by the United States. There are true heroes in it, the "Wolverines" and their compadres who did everything in their power to prepare and provide support. Read it to be encouraged by them and have hope.
The Public Health Company arose from the ashes of the pandemic response. It was created by, staffed by and advised by people who knew what to do to manage the pandemic, people who were not sufficiently listened to, people who dealt with the frustration of a political system that was mostly inert. I hope the Public Health Company succeeds, because there surely will be another type of pandemic and someone will at least be prepared!
I started The Premonition but couldn't get past the second chapter. It began like an error-filled screed filled with unlikeable (waaa! no one is listening to me!) protagonists Why go further?
There are MANY reasons to criticize the US response to COVID but, starting in the first chapter, Mr. Lewis takes everything told to him at face value without any critical evaluation. Nothing that the Santa Barbara health officer did was subject to any scrutiny; her negative comments about CDC are just taken at face value. And it seems many of the things that she did could, in fact, have been wrong. Going down the list: what was the reason for the autopsy? They seem to already have the diagnosis and the isolate and they could have just done contact tracing. As an infectious diseases epidemiologist myself, I found it perplexing and, yes, potentially unnecessarily risky. For meningococcus and hepatitis C, county health officers typically go through the state health department, they don't go right to the CDC . These are bread and butter problems. More specifically, there is not just one case of group B meningococcus every four years as Lewis states, there are a few hundred annually in the US.
Tried and true, published protocol, written by the CDC, detail how to manage transmission. That's why there are so few cases. The health officer wanted to try something new (the then unapproved meningococcus B vaccine) but, as the CDC recommended, it should have been done within a clinical trial since the standard of care is already outstanding with little to no transmission As for the hepatitis C episode, that is the life of a health officer. A "nice" outbreak with a good resolution. Yet Lewis uses the episode to harangue the CDC and the State Medical Board. With respect to the mudslide, there is no risk for vibrio cholera in California and it never causes a rash. Either the author or the health officer confused it with Vibrio vulnificus. And although I'm not sure about whether she did the right thing about evacuating the nursing home, the county of 7 deaths makes me suspect that she did not or that there were better ways to have managed the situation.
So who was right here? And who was arrogant? It is notable that the CDC responded each time she called, with multiple people (a weird complaint that there were too many people on the phone). The chief complaint seems to be that they didn't uniformly back her approach. Well, maybe the health officer was actually wrong. How about looking into that, Mr Lewis? Are there not two sides?
Lewis makes it sound like the CA state health officers are dottering retirees. In fact, the health officers in the highly populated counties and many of the others are mid-career and outstanding public health leaders.
In the first two chapters, Mr. Lewis makes the CDC sound like overbearing overlords of public health. That may well be true and it certainly has been stated by others at local and state health departments. Although they have had many triumphs, during COVID, CDC was arrogant, too certain about things that were incorrect, and lumbering in their responses. It appeared bloated, insular and tone-deaf. As I waded into chapter three, I saw a similar, poorly substantiated, yellow-journalistic approach to DHS and HHS. I couldn't go on. How much of the failed response to COVID was politics vs. poor leadership vs. intrinsic flaws in the system is unknown. It would make a great book. Just not this one.
There are MANY reasons to criticize the US response to COVID but, starting in the first chapter, Mr. Lewis takes everything told to him at face value without any critical evaluation. Nothing that the Santa Barbara health officer did was subject to any scrutiny; her negative comments about CDC are just taken at face value. And it seems many of the things that she did could, in fact, have been wrong. Going down the list: what was the reason for the autopsy? They seem to already have the diagnosis and the isolate and they could have just done contact tracing. As an infectious diseases epidemiologist myself, I found it perplexing and, yes, potentially unnecessarily risky. For meningococcus and hepatitis C, county health officers typically go through the state health department, they don't go right to the CDC . These are bread and butter problems. More specifically, there is not just one case of group B meningococcus every four years as Lewis states, there are a few hundred annually in the US.
Tried and true, published protocol, written by the CDC, detail how to manage transmission. That's why there are so few cases. The health officer wanted to try something new (the then unapproved meningococcus B vaccine) but, as the CDC recommended, it should have been done within a clinical trial since the standard of care is already outstanding with little to no transmission As for the hepatitis C episode, that is the life of a health officer. A "nice" outbreak with a good resolution. Yet Lewis uses the episode to harangue the CDC and the State Medical Board. With respect to the mudslide, there is no risk for vibrio cholera in California and it never causes a rash. Either the author or the health officer confused it with Vibrio vulnificus. And although I'm not sure about whether she did the right thing about evacuating the nursing home, the county of 7 deaths makes me suspect that she did not or that there were better ways to have managed the situation.
So who was right here? And who was arrogant? It is notable that the CDC responded each time she called, with multiple people (a weird complaint that there were too many people on the phone). The chief complaint seems to be that they didn't uniformly back her approach. Well, maybe the health officer was actually wrong. How about looking into that, Mr Lewis? Are there not two sides?
Lewis makes it sound like the CA state health officers are dottering retirees. In fact, the health officers in the highly populated counties and many of the others are mid-career and outstanding public health leaders.
In the first two chapters, Mr. Lewis makes the CDC sound like overbearing overlords of public health. That may well be true and it certainly has been stated by others at local and state health departments. Although they have had many triumphs, during COVID, CDC was arrogant, too certain about things that were incorrect, and lumbering in their responses. It appeared bloated, insular and tone-deaf. As I waded into chapter three, I saw a similar, poorly substantiated, yellow-journalistic approach to DHS and HHS. I couldn't go on. How much of the failed response to COVID was politics vs. poor leadership vs. intrinsic flaws in the system is unknown. It would make a great book. Just not this one.
A really fascinating look at the inner workings of the start of the pandemic and the people/events leading up to it. The last section of the book isn’t as strong as the first two, but definitely worth the read. However, it still leads you to the disappointing fact of how screwed up our healthcare system and government is. But encouraging to know there are some brave people trying to fix it.
As frustrating as it is fascinating, this is an interesting look at the snafu that is the American public health system. What a shit show. At least this book reinforces that there are still some smart people trying to solve problems.
informative
medium-paced
informative
sad
medium-paced
Informative, fascinating, but utterly demoralizing read. There are sobering lessons about leadership and institutional dysfunction here. I worry that the truth is, we learned nothing from this all as a nation, and are even less prepared for the “next one.” As always, Michael Lewis’ books are worth a visit.
The big takeaways seemed to be what everyone was just then figuring out: the virus was disproportionately attacking poor people of color unable to work from home; and lots of infectious people were walking around without a clue about their condition.
My parents went out of town. I bought my father this book to read on their holiday. I was unaware of this book's existence until I walked into a store last Sunday morning. I added the caveat to my father that I should read it as well and we could talk about it. I then checked it out from the library and read it in two days. It is obviously a huge story and the number of people interviewed appears rather small. I have concerns about that.
The issue here isn't institutions or the personality of elected leaders or the actions of liberty-loving citizens. The issue is the ability to think, especially in a crisis, and how thinking with others generates unexpected avenues of creativity. I found that most illuminating. The dearth of testing kits and PPE was deplorable but the inability to anticipate such is remarkably terrifying.
3.3 stars
My parents went out of town. I bought my father this book to read on their holiday. I was unaware of this book's existence until I walked into a store last Sunday morning. I added the caveat to my father that I should read it as well and we could talk about it. I then checked it out from the library and read it in two days. It is obviously a huge story and the number of people interviewed appears rather small. I have concerns about that.
The issue here isn't institutions or the personality of elected leaders or the actions of liberty-loving citizens. The issue is the ability to think, especially in a crisis, and how thinking with others generates unexpected avenues of creativity. I found that most illuminating. The dearth of testing kits and PPE was deplorable but the inability to anticipate such is remarkably terrifying.
3.3 stars
A bit of a slow start but by the midpoint it had become a real page-turner and by the end, an utterly fascinating epic tale. It starts with how a 13-year-old's science project led to an independent breakthrough in pandemic modeling and to a re-evaluation of 1918 pandemic responses that informed a small group of forward-thinkers (calling themselves "The Wolverines") to prepare a state-of-the-art pandemic plan that could have been the envy of the world, but how that work was largely undermined by factors out of their control, beginning with the Center for Disease Control. The CDC's reputation takes a severe beating here: its' failure to even test for COVID-19 in Americans brought out of Wuhan, its' refusal to even use the word 'pandemic' before things were too late, and so forth.