The Activist Cancer Patient: How to Take Charge of Your Treatment

by Beverly Zakarian, Ezra M Greenspan M.D. (Foreword by)

Overview

One in three Americans will be diagnosed with cancer during his or her lifetime. Many patients, frightened by the diagnosis, surrender themselves completely to their doctor's control and become only marginally involved in the decision-making process and management of their own treatment. Cancer survivor Beverly Zakarian asserts that cancer patients can greatly increase their survival chances by taking an active role in their treatment. This book educates cancer patients on locating sources of legitimate cancer treatments that run the gamut from little-known ones to the very latest experimental therapies or drug trials. Based on her own experience and extensive research, the author discusses working constructively with a doctor, researching and evaluating treatment, and gaining access to the state-of-the-art and even experimental treatments.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780471120261
Publisher:	TURNER PUB CO
Publication date:	04/18/1996
Pages:	240
Product dimensions:	6.12(w) x 9.20(h) x 0.63(d)

About the Author

BEVERLY ZAKARIAN is Executive Director and a cofounder of CAN ACT (Cancer Patients Action Alliance), the first activist cancer-patient organization and the first to identify the critical role of the FDA in the survival of people with the disease. As the spokesperson for CAN ACT, Ms. Zakarian has represented patient views before Congress, the President's Cancer Panel, and the FDA, and has written numerous articles about treatment issues. Ms. Zakarian lives in Brooklyn, New York.

Table of Contents

Why Be an Activist Patient?

Cancer Tough: Taking Charge.

Getting Information on Treatment Options and Choices.

On the Cutting Edge: What You Should Know About Experimental Drugs.

Trick or Treatment: What No One Wants to Tell You About Clinical Trials.

The Drug Approval Process: Getting Around the Gate.

Managed Care or Managed Patients?

Reaching Out for Help.

The Empowered Patient: Doing Something About Cancer.

Recommended Reading.

Index.

Editorial Reviews

Zakarian, a cancer survivor and executive director of Cancer Patients Action Alliance (CAN-ACT), a nonprofit advocacy group, writes movingly about her own experience with cancer and her difficulties in receiving appropriate therapy. Her book teaches advocacy skills, empowering patients to insist on needed care through communication, understanding, and knowledge of the medical system. Zakarian also identifies resources for state-of-the-art information and clinical trials, explaining how such trials work and delineating the risks involved with unproven drugs. Zakarian gives tips on acquiring "orphan" or foreign drugs, advises on what to do if treatment is denied by a patient's HMO, and defines and encourages the use of social and emotional support groups. An essential purchase for healthcare collections.-Janet M. Schneider, James A. Haley Veterans Hosp., Tampa, Fl.

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