Death By HMO

Do American Health Maintenance Organizations (HMOs) deliberately neglect unprofitable patients? You may think so after reading the true story: Death By HMO: The Jennifer Gigliello Tragedy.A new world of medicine exists in the United States-one that pulsates to the impersonal and incessantly driving rhythms of corporate greed. Patients can become little more than data entries in elaborate schemes to cut costs and bolster profits. Jennifer Gigliello's case is, unfortunately, one tragic tip of the HMO iceberg.In April 1978, Jennifer Gigliello (a vivacious, energetic, and happily-married, 21-year-old new mother from San Francisco) was struck with a severe pain attack. For the following eight years her illness was repeatedly misdiagnosed and she had a series of unnecessary or botched operations, which left her chronically ill. This series of events ultimately resulted in her untimely death.

Dorothy Rose Cancilla