New book: Hope or Hype

Today's Boston Globe includes a review of Hope or Hype, the Obsession with Medical Advances and the High Cost of False Promises, by Dr. Richard A. Deyo and Donald L. Patrick. I haven't read the book but it sounds interesting.

The growth of modestly effective but costly treatments ''is the main reason why health insurance costs are rising so fast, with so little to show for it in terms of longevity or other public health statistics" in which other industrialized nations outdo us, according to the authors.