The I Index

You Bet Your Life: From Blood Transfusions to Mass Vaccination, the Long and Risky History of Medical Innovation

Next in the queue

56

/100

I Index Overall Rating

Readers

73/100

Critics

40/100

Scholars

N/A

Author:

Paul A. Offit

Publisher:

Basic Books

Date:

September 21, 2021

Every medical decision—whether to have chemotherapy, an X-ray, or surgery—is a risk, no matter which way you choose. Paul A. Offit argues that, from the first blood transfusions four hundred years ago to the hunt for a COVID-19 vaccine, risk has been essential to the discovery of new treatments. More importantly, understanding the risks is crucial to whether, as a society or as individuals, we accept them.

What The Reviewers Say

Cass R. Sunstein,
The New York Times Book Review
Offit is a good storyteller, and he has some terrific stories to tell. He also draws important lessons.
David A. Shaywitz,
The Wall Street Journal
... a series of prismatic examples shared by Paul Offit.
Elizabeth J. Eastwood,
Library Journal
He acknowledges the existence of uncertainty and the risks required for the work of medical explorers of the modern age, along with the near inevitability of such risk. Offit illustrates his points with relevant examples from the development of COVID-19 vaccines.

Publishers Weekly
...impressive.